Adventures!!

Monteverde is the place of excitement! We have been super busy with all of the cool things that there are to do here!!

Yesterday morning, we woke up and after a good breakfast, we headed to Selvatura, which is a big park here that includes a lot of the good things to do. We started out with the zip lines. Tom did great...but I struggled a bit on the 2nd one . I stopped a bit short and one of the guides had to come out a few feet and get me. After that, they had me ride "taxi" style with one of the guides each time. It was kind of embarrassing, but actually, I really enjoyed it. It took the stress off for me, and I got to just lean back and enjoy the rides. The guides were really great about it. I often went first or last depending on when my "taxi" needed to go on to the next platform. They would yell, "Taxi!" and I would just go join them.

It is kind of a crazy feeling to be flying over the trees at that height and that speed. The last cable was a full kilometer long...that's over .6 miles for us Americans. Here's a picture of someone else on that last cable...


The zip lines took about 2 and a half hours in the morning. We then headed out on the hanging bridges tour that was on the same property. It was a hike just over 3 kilometers where we got to see a lot of the beautiful flowers that grow here in the Cloud Forest. The bridges were really cool, too. As you can see from the pictures below, I did just fine on the bridges, but Tom struggled a bit.

After that hike, we headed up to the restaurant for our lunch. During lunch, we watched an armadillo out the window. Those things can really dig!!

We then headed to the Butterfly Garden...my husband let me choose...he was more interested in the reptile land, but I think he enjoyed the butterflies, too. The pictures below show some of the fun things we saw. There were lots of different kinds of butterflies and our guide pointed out their eggs and the catapillars, too. The workers at the garden also collect all the cocoons and put them in this box to control the temperature. Look at all the different varieties!!

Last night, we also headed out on a night tour throught the cloud forest. We saw tarantualas, glow worms, walking sticks, and many other cool things that come out at night.

We slept very well last night as you can imagine. Tom is now headed out on an ATV tour while I am choosing to stay at the hotel and get a massage. Then, this afternoon, we head out to the Cheese Factory here in Monteverde. It was begun by Quakers in the 1950's when they moved here to avoid military service in the Korean War. We will let you know how it compares to Tillamook.

Rocky Road!

We have made it to Monteverde! Our hotel is nice...we are here now for 3 nights.

The road here was extremely rocky, twisty and turny. We are still recovering.

Tomorrow is our first zip line adventure...

We will write again then!
Love you all!

Lava!

Yesterday we went on our adventure with the volcano. We drove up to the observatory (with some yucky roads!) and then sat and watched the volcano for a while. We learned that lava is not liquid at this volcano, but instead shoots out in large chunks that then break apart as they fall down the mountain. It gives it kind of a different look than you expect. During the daytime, you can see the smoke rising up from where it falls, but with the sun, you can´t see the redness of the lava.

We then hiked to a waterfall where we got to go swimming and experience the cosmetic effects of the volcanic mud. (Good pictures there!)

The observatory has a lot of native plants and animals around so our guide helped us recognize them and their importance.

We then watched the volcano again in the dark so we could see the red of the lava flow. Once it looked like fireworks on the mountain as it fell down the mountain in all sorts of directions. Very cool...

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at some hot springs so we could enjoy another benefit of the mountain. Nice and relaxing...

Today we head out on ATV´s and then on to the next city -- Monteverde! We travel there by jeep-boat-jeep or as our vendor just brought us back to reality -- we travel by minibus-boat-minibus. Doesn´t quite sound the same, does it??

Volcano!

Here´s the volcano...this is a picture Tom took this morning from our balcony. Super cool, huh?

We have booked a volcano hike adventure for this evening...it starts at 2 and is 6-7 hours long.

They said we might want to bring a snack. You think??

La Fortuna!

We left Tortuguero this morning and headed away from the Caribbean coast to more of the center...we are now in Fortuna, which is most famous for having a volcano super close by. The volcano´s name is Arenal.

A Dutch woman we met in Tortuguero told us she stayed here for 3 days and never actually saw the volcano. It was covered in clouds. But, our amazing luck continues and we had a beautiful clear view of the volcano as we drove here. And, our hotel (at a special price) has an amazing view of the volcano as well. It is gorgeous! We are going to try to get a picture of it for you here.

We have been exploring the town for a bit...it is a tourist town with every other store selling tours or souvineers or both.

The plan for tomorrow is to pack it full. Possibly, ATV tour in the morning and then a hike near the volcano and/or waterfalls in the afternoon. Guess which one Tom is most excited about??

We will keep you posted.

Also, we did go turtle seeking last night, and we found one. It was a Green Turtle (an endangered species) and she was laying her eggs on the sand. There were about 100 tourists there (more than we had seen the whole time in that village) and it was a bit nutty, but the guides did a fairly good job of keeping things in control so the turtle could have a positive experience. She laid about 100-150 eggs (think Ping Pong balls for shape and size) and then she covered them up. That´s when our guide had us leave so she could have some peace -- although we were the only ones leaving at that time. That beach by late July-ish will have thousands of turtles laying eggs on it. Amazing! (To find her, we did hike a couple of miles each way in the sand -- speed walking in sand kinda sucks!)

So, we get to do laundry tonight. Living large in Fortuna! I think I have convinced Tom to get some ice cream. ;-)

Love you all!

Our canoe adventure!

So, today we went and explored the Tortuguero canals by ourselves.

We (meaning Tom) spotted lots of cool wildlife --- like an igauna, a monkey, lots of birds, and a cayman. I noticed the bright white birds...once I noticed something more subtle.

It was a lot of fun in our canoe. Sometimes, it felt like we were the only people left on earth as we went around these amazing areas. Other times, we could still hear motorboats so we knew the apocolypse hadn´t happened yet. :-)

It truly made us appreciate our guide from yesterday -- our arms are killing us!! 3 hours of rowing is a bit more than our usual routine.

When we returned, we ate our Tico (meaning Costa Rican) breakfast...see below...

Okay, so are not too sure how authentic the fantas are, but the beans and rice (pico gallo) are served with everything. We are at 4 meals running now...

I think we are going to go look at turtles tonight...or try...they may not be there, but we will be!!

Love you all!!

Tortuguero!

We made it to Tortuguero yesterday! It was a 3 hour van ride from Alajuela and then a 40 minute boat ride because there are no roads to Tortuguero. No cars around here...just bikes, lots of walking, and a couple of ATV´s.

Our room is nice as long as the fan is directly on you at all times, but the bed is comfortable enough. From our room, we can see the Caribbean Sea, and the view is amazing! The roosters didn´t start this morning until 5 AM, but we had to wake up around then anyway for our canoe tour.

It was awesome! We saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, blue herons, tiger herons, caymens (sp?) and more! One of the spider monkeys was less than 10 feet away as it went foraging for food.

It is absolutely beautiful here. Check out the greenness up above.

We are off to take a nap!
Love you all!

PS The toe is doing great --- strong enough to put on the Keens today!

We are here!

We landed in San Jose this morning at 5:30 AM.

We hailed a taxi to our bed and breakfast where we easily agreed on the first activity of the day -- a nap! After a couple of hours snoozing, we woke to go find the breakfast part of the place. This wonderful lady, Sylvia, was waiting for us in the kitchen. (She was watching the World Cup -- as was everyone else in Costa Rica today!) Sylvia made us a wonderful breakfast with rice and beans as well as eggs and fresh fruit (banana, watermelon, papaya, and pineapple!). From what we have read in the guide books, rice and beans can be a part of every meal and we will be seeing it again!

We then decided to venture into the city of Alajuela and see what could be seen. Armed with a map from the hotel and a vague interest in hunting down the LDS temple in a nearby town, we set off.

It was fun to wander the streets and observe the differences from home, but also the many similarities.

We ended up finding a bus station and jumped on a bus for the town we knew the temple was on. Honestly, that was as far as our planning went...is this adventure or just stupidity?

We met a new friend on the bus, Abraham, a nice Mormon returned missionary who was able to point us in the right direction (and knew of bus transfers we needed to take).

The temple was gorgeous! We got to walk around the grounds -- it was just us and some workers because it is only open Wed-Saturday. It is one of the "little temples."

We then got it in our heads that we could then find Gustavo, a friend of a friend, who works at a major hotel around here. So, off we went -- again, relying on the kindness of new friends, we made our way to the hotel.

Gustavo was fantastic -- he treated us with great kindness and we appreciate him a lot.

We returned to our hotel -- and took another nap until dinner. We went with a fellow traveler who has visited 49 countries. Ahhhh...someday!

And now we blog...we just learned that tomorrow's destination may be blocked by a rained out road. But, I am sure, we will find our way...

PS The toe is feeling fine...

OUCH!

Today is the day!

We leave for our honeymoon in a very short amount of time!

We are super excited!

We have been preparing for weeks!

We have packed our clothes!

We have gotten our shots!

We have booked our hotels!

We have our passports!

We have our ride to the airport!

And I got to spend the morning at the doctor's office!

Wait!! That isn't supposed to be part of the plan...but alas, it happened.

Here's the story --

Many months ago, I bruised the big toe on my right foot under the nail. So, I had a nice dark purple bruise thing going under my toe nail since, well, a long time.

The nail began to separate from the toe over the past few weeks, and this morning, I caught the nail on the sheets causing me to scream in anguish. Pure anguish!

The advice nurse was able to get me an appointment with my doctor this morning (Fantastic surprise, Kaiser!) and off I went.

She chose to remove the nail completely and then informed me that crutches would be needed for the next 2-3 days.

I politely declined stating that by tomorrow afternoon, I plan on hiking through the rainforest and checking out the wildlife.

She then politely informed me that I was wrong.

So, maybe a compromise is in order?

Anyway, I now have some painkillers, an antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory all packed in my carry-on along with a fresh supply of gauze and antiseptic.

Thank goodness for an Eagle Scout husband!!

And we are off! The adventure has obviously already begun...