i am sitting here at 5:540 am , and once again the impressive volcano is completely invisible behind the clouds. the huge mountain is 1 K away from us, but we cant see it. how ever, there are many bird species creating a nature orchestra.
yesterday, we awoke and had a traditional costa rican break feast for rice, beans, fried plantains, yuka (some kind of potato). ,but first we had a Delicious fruit plate of fresh pine apple, water melon, bananas. this is how i should eat every day. we got on the transport bus and arrived at the sky adventure center. we began hiking up the mountain with a guide. it was a nice day, no bugs and no need for bug spray in this time of year and the guide explains about all sort of unique trees and their usages.we reach the 1st of several hanging bridges, those are wobbly a bit and are place above deep canyons and let you see over the canopies. interesting variety is on display below and above us. birds are everywhere with interesting collors. the tanager is so far my favorite, with a dark blu\black color and a bright red patch in the wing. we see many sub species of humming birds and hear monkeys, howler monkeys. we start to look for them and follow the sounds and they move from tree to tree and finally spot a small clan. we see them, even a little one, move from one tree to the next, but it is hard to see them, all the way in the top of the tree. we spot a big toad, a lizard moving fast under a bush. warblers are nesting by the trail and we saw the chick inside the nest. a view points lets us see lake Arenal and the clouds slowly uplifting from the volcano.
we return to the jungle and reach the half way point, for a nature break, and even here, there is a big wooden resembling beetle in the urinal!!, i hope it was doing number 1. this was no dung beetle mind you. on the out side, i spotted a common sight of Alla glancing in the mirror. Alla misses no chance to verify the hair is not freesy.
we passed by a couple of nice waterfalls and more bridges. there are lovely spots of red flowers that are in stark contrast to the green all around.on occasion, we see butter flies, including the famous blue one, that looks like an owl when not moving. we ended the tour with a butterflaryum for a few more easy to see butterflies. a very nice 3 hour hike left us hungry and just in time for a typical costa rican lunch.
this time it was beans with rice, plantains, yuka and yummy fish, served with a freshly squeezed fruit juice,...so good. and as we sit the clouds finally reveal the entire volcano. i quickly take photos before the clouds set down again.
just before going up the sky tram, we saw a bug green lizard shaped like two leaves, the ridges are looking so real. then we went up the mountain with the tram at canopy height seeing very nice views. now it was zip line time. we have done several Ziplines in the past, but this was higher and faster from the rest.over deep canyons, with clear sight to the mountain , the lake and the vast jungle all around above the canopy. best Zip line so far. to relax after the exhausting effort of sitting down while gravity does all the work, we had a crepe.
we returned to the hotel after seeing a turkey high on a tree, turkies here are smaller, and can actually fly!. transportation here is minimal in the evening , so we hitched our way in to the town of furtuna. we were furtunate to quickly catch a tourist family. Fortuna is a small town, but liely. it has a dominating church and a lovely grass square swampled with local kids flying kits by day, or some projectile eminating various lights at night.we skipped the tourist traps and headed for soda (local's restaurant) ara. we got the traditional costa rican supper of yes, rice +beans, plantains, some yuka and banana salad with fish. we strolled in the town and sopped at Pops of delicious ice cream and returned to the hotel, early morning the next day..
the next day, we woke early, and got on the bus for a fun day. the 1st stop, canyoneering. that was after a quick stop for empenadas. canyoneering. we learned how o rappel, then began our path in a creek, following it for a couple of hours. during the hike, we rappeled 4 time, two short ones, and 2 really high ones, where we rappled half the way and were then asked to grab the secondary rope and let go... gravity does the rest as we plummet down and stopped by the guide. what a rush!, there was also one hole that we jumped into head height level water and at one point, the guide dammend the creek, we set down on the water fall below, and he move, letting a tzunami flash flood overtake us , that was fun. the guide is doing par cour and he jumps from banks to banks, on rocks with such ease, while we slowly make our path in the creek, its an impressive sight. at the end, after 300 hundred stairs climb,d with a costa rican breakfast, i am sure you know what it is by now :) and some great tasting fresh juice.
we get back in to town and head for action#2. we stop on the way at a fruit plate and i get a fried plantain plate snack. 20 minutes later, its rafting time.
as rafting goes, this is not on my top 5, its a level 2-3 ,but the water is not high enough and we are slowed down by the rocks, but the water are also warm, so its fun to splash and be splashed on. we get to ride the bull, meaning seating on the front on the boat, feet out in some of the rapid, and swim next to the boat in the deeper sections. we finally spot a sloth, sitting on a tree doing nothing, Turkey vultures, herons, king fishers, fly catchers. the guide stops on a bank, digs around and finds a poisonous frog, a tiny thing the size of a quarter. we get to hold it in our hands, but don't lick it... at the sopping pint with great pine apple, 3 cows stand very close and wait for fruit left overs, this is a popular spot for them and they eat the bark of the pine apple and water melon, a very sustainable practice. i go to the side to extract some liquid residue and see another of these poisonous frogs jumping around.
not long after, we reach the end of this two and a half hours raft, fun experience after all, due to the animal part and the other couples with us on this raft.
with dry clothes, we had for a little ranch with great mountain views, once again the mountain was not visible in the morning, but it is now in the after noon. great views and also beautiful birds. we get some traditional costa rican lunch, with a shot of some local moon shine , and enjoy the sun set views over the volcano. we then watch a demonstration of ancient (60 years ago) sugar can making process and get to sample the raw juice and the freshly made sugar.
we get back to the hotel and plan to return to town that night, but crash till morning.
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