ALL ABOUT ELIA: July 2007

WaterFALL

We also went to another waterfall. You have to descend some 400 steps almost vertically down to view this spectacular waterfall. (which meant climbing them afterwards!)

Now don't freak out mom, but while Josh and I were exploring the falls and climbing around the rocks, I fell. A giant bug flew in my face and I fell off the rock I was standing on. I thought it was not very far, but Josh saw the whole thing and I fell about six feet. My angles were with me that day because somehow i managed to fall in the only sandy spot surrounded by jagged rocks. I landed on my side and bruised my hip and shoulder. It hurt for a few days but now is fine. I was really lucky. I am always yelling at Josh to be careful and then I turn out to have an accident.

(I forgot to post this in the right order. We did this after we did the bridge tour)

Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna

Josh's parents and Aunt Frida came to visit and we rented a great big car and drove to La Fortuna where Arenal Volcano towers over the town. It is an actual active volcano.

We almost ran out of gas and there were no gas stations around so after asking several helpful Ticos, we found this women's house who had gas in containers and we bought half a tank from her.

Good thing we rented a 4x4. The bridge leading to our hotel was out.

We were really lucky to see this much of the volcano. During the day it is totally covered with clouds. I cleared a little right before dark and we were able to get some pictures. The real show starts at night when yo can actually see the lava running down the side. It was spectacular but unfortunately I was unable to capture that with my camera.

There is also a manmade lake that provides hydroelectic power to the surrounding area.

Cheers! (that is Josh's Aunt Frida)

Canopy bridge tour

We took a canopy bridge tour through the national park. This was a lot more interesting than the zip line tour because you could stop and see everything. We towered above the forest. The bridges were a little wobbly so it is still a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast

We drove from Arenal to the Caribbean coast. We stopped at this hole in the wall restaurant for lunch on our way and got our first taste of the Carribean heat and slow pace of life. We jumped back in the car as often as we could to get back into the air conditioning.

Our hotel was soo cute. We all stayed in one little cabin. While it was adorable, it was not air conditioned and I think we all lost a few pounds from sweating.

Josh's Dad is a loud sleeper if you know what I mean. I had a hard time sleeping so I opted to sleep in the hammock out front. I was a little scared so I slept with the light on and my glasses but the sound of frogs and mystery bugs were a little bit more soothing than inside the cabin. (No offense Jaime)

The beach

Puerto Viejo is on the Carribean coast. This side of Costa Rica is very different from the rest of the country. It has a strange history of slavery and now it is a mixture of Jamaican descendants, Native Bri Bri Indians, and Ticos(Costa Ricans). It is very laid back and nothing happens too fast.

We were advised to not swim in the rough surf, but Josh and Jaime braved it a bit.

Surfs up!

Botanical Garden Tour

We took a tour of a Botanical garden. I thought it would be this manicured garden that we would walk through but it really is a wooded area that this expat has developed. It is full of native plants and trees and basically in his back yard. Our guide was actually a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica fifteen years ago and never went home. She lead us through the garden explaining what everything was and let us try all the strange fruit we had never seen before.

This was a perfect place to see the poison dart frog(the red one) in a natural habitat. They are so small, about an inch long and even smaller. They were everywhere. We had to watch where we walked so not to step on one. We also saw a variety of other frogs.

Chocolate tour

Have you ever seen a cocoa pod?

Our guide from the garden recommended that we go visit Petranela. She is a Bri Bri Indian that opens her home to visitors and explains the process of making chocolate. We loved her. She was so animated and I suspected her energy was from eating chocolate all day. Inside the pod is the seeds that is covered with a delicious fruit that you can suck off. Then they are roasted and set in the sun to dry and roasted again and then set in this grinder. Then you can mix in whatever you want. Mint, pepper, milk and sugar, etc. We bought lots.

Jerk

Jaime loved spicy food. We found this place called Miss Edith's. Jaime got the jerk fish. It was delicious!

Breakfast of champions

We had planned a snorkeling trip but it was pouring rain. So we decided to head back to San Jose. We stopped at this great hippie bakery called Bread and Chocolate. You can get all the breakfast stuff with chocolate sauce.