A few weeks ago my grandparents came to Costa Rica. My grandparents live in Iowa so I only see them a few times a year, but this time I hadn't seen them for over a year, so I had really missed them. Even though I don't see them as much as people that live in California it's been amazing to actually see someone from home here in Costa Rica. The feeling was really really awesome because it completely removed all the homesickness I had, at least temporarily and I also feel like it reminded me that home still exists, that everybody is still there. It made me really look forward to going back home in a few months. Other than finally seeing someone from home I've had a really good time with them. We've played a lot of games, gone on some hikes and really just had some quality time together.
On Friday we went on a hike through the cloud forest, then the rain forest for about an hour and a half to see a huge waterfall. The hike was really fun, as all hikes are when you're surrounded by so much vegetation. At one point we had to take off our shoes to get across a river, or in my case, jump from rock to rock. The waterfall itself is beautiful, or better said, was beautiful. It's a huge waterfall that's about 300 feet high. When we went last time (when I was here last July) there was a ton of water and it was an actual waterfall but this time it was just a tiny tiny little trickle of water where you would have to stand under it for 10 minutes to finally get wet. It really reminds you that we have a shortage of water on our hands, even in Costa Rica. Last time we were there we saw some puma tracks when we were heading back. The guide had some clay that you put in the tracks to make a mold of them. After we waited for them to dry I went back to check on them and there were some new tracks right by the old ones. A puma had passed by just minutes after we had been there! We also found some beaver tracks but I don't think those were nearly as cool as the puma tracks. This time around, we did not see animal tracks. Still, it was a memorable walk. The waterfall is incredible and I'm lucky to have seen it twice. On this trip, I've really come to appreciate all nature has for us to see and all that it has for us to learn.
2 weeks ago we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. The drive was about three hours from Providencia, pretty close but completely different landscapes and environments. The whole area is on the Pacific Coast, but the actual national park is a rain forest. We went on a half hour hike through the forest to get to a little beach. My favorite part was the hike because we saw so many awesome things. Our guide was amazing at spotting all different kinds of plants and animals and he was also just really good at his job, we really learned a lot. We saw sloths, bats, birds, deer, scorpions, spiders and monkeys. I think the sloths were really the highlight. We saw six in total, of both kinds, two toed and three toed! Two toed sloths are mean and aggressive, and we didn't really see them up close. On the other hand three toed sloths are gentle and peaceful so we got to see them up close. We even got to see a baby that was less than a week old! Now I can tell you from personal experience that they really are as slow as everybody says they are. My favorite bird that we saw was one that was super, super camouflaged. It looked exactly like a crumpled leaf but you could see its big brown eye that was the only thing that would give away its position. We saw a bunch of white-faced monkeys that put on a a show of taking people's food and throwing it. The beach itself was amazing too, it was like what you would see in pictures of a paradise beach, with the jungle right up against it. The water was calm and it felt perfect, although it was burning hot outside. After the beach we went to our hotel that was in a town called Dominical. The hotel was amazing with a fun pool, and I wish we could have stayed there longer than one night. The next morning most of the group went surfing but I couldn't go because I had an ear infection. That Sunday we said goodbye to my grandparents which was sad but it helped to know that I will see them not long after I get back. It was all around, an awesome Easter weekend!
Next week we visit Tortuguero, which is a completely different part of the country on the Caribbean side. That should be interesting.
On Friday we went on a hike through the cloud forest, then the rain forest for about an hour and a half to see a huge waterfall. The hike was really fun, as all hikes are when you're surrounded by so much vegetation. At one point we had to take off our shoes to get across a river, or in my case, jump from rock to rock. The waterfall itself is beautiful, or better said, was beautiful. It's a huge waterfall that's about 300 feet high. When we went last time (when I was here last July) there was a ton of water and it was an actual waterfall but this time it was just a tiny tiny little trickle of water where you would have to stand under it for 10 minutes to finally get wet. It really reminds you that we have a shortage of water on our hands, even in Costa Rica. Last time we were there we saw some puma tracks when we were heading back. The guide had some clay that you put in the tracks to make a mold of them. After we waited for them to dry I went back to check on them and there were some new tracks right by the old ones. A puma had passed by just minutes after we had been there! We also found some beaver tracks but I don't think those were nearly as cool as the puma tracks. This time around, we did not see animal tracks. Still, it was a memorable walk. The waterfall is incredible and I'm lucky to have seen it twice. On this trip, I've really come to appreciate all nature has for us to see and all that it has for us to learn.
2 weeks ago we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. The drive was about three hours from Providencia, pretty close but completely different landscapes and environments. The whole area is on the Pacific Coast, but the actual national park is a rain forest. We went on a half hour hike through the forest to get to a little beach. My favorite part was the hike because we saw so many awesome things. Our guide was amazing at spotting all different kinds of plants and animals and he was also just really good at his job, we really learned a lot. We saw sloths, bats, birds, deer, scorpions, spiders and monkeys. I think the sloths were really the highlight. We saw six in total, of both kinds, two toed and three toed! Two toed sloths are mean and aggressive, and we didn't really see them up close. On the other hand three toed sloths are gentle and peaceful so we got to see them up close. We even got to see a baby that was less than a week old! Now I can tell you from personal experience that they really are as slow as everybody says they are. My favorite bird that we saw was one that was super, super camouflaged. It looked exactly like a crumpled leaf but you could see its big brown eye that was the only thing that would give away its position. We saw a bunch of white-faced monkeys that put on a a show of taking people's food and throwing it. The beach itself was amazing too, it was like what you would see in pictures of a paradise beach, with the jungle right up against it. The water was calm and it felt perfect, although it was burning hot outside. After the beach we went to our hotel that was in a town called Dominical. The hotel was amazing with a fun pool, and I wish we could have stayed there longer than one night. The next morning most of the group went surfing but I couldn't go because I had an ear infection. That Sunday we said goodbye to my grandparents which was sad but it helped to know that I will see them not long after I get back. It was all around, an awesome Easter weekend!
Next week we visit Tortuguero, which is a completely different part of the country on the Caribbean side. That should be interesting.
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