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Published: November 8th 2005
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Hey everyone...sorry I have been out of touch for the last 2 weeks. I really have been busy and the down time I have had seems to have been in places with no internet access.
The last time I wrote I was in the surfing town of Tamarindo on the north west coast of Costa Rica. After Tamarindo we headed to the capital of Costa Rica... San Jose. San Jose is a typical modern metropolis, but not without its own charm. There are lots of parks to walk through, the people are warm and receptive, and there is a very active night life. I had a lot of fun there but unfortunately I had to say goodbye to some good people there. The way the tour is set up people are given the option to continue or leave at any certain point of the trip. Only 5 of the original 18 people were continuing on in Costa Rica. When you travel it´s amazing how quickly you develop friendships with people.
We picked up 5 new people and we were off to the Pacific coast again. We headed first to the town of La Fortuna, where we watched lava flow at night
Butterfly
butterfly uses outer wings to look like a reptile to protect make predators to think twice out of the active Arenal Volcana...it was an amazing sight to see. Soaking in the hot springs afterward was a great reward after a long day of travel and a long hike through the rain forest. Next day we had a free day to do what we wanted. There were a lot of options...caving, white water rafting, kayaking, and canyoning. I chose canyoning...Basically traversing through a series of canyons that have been carved out of the earth by flowing waterfalls hundreds of feet deep. Our night was capped by slugging beers at a local rodeo. It was a hysterical sight but something the locals take quite seriously.
Our next stop was the town of St. Helena. It was another small town catered to the tourists visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The weather was pretty shitty so we didn´t really see much wildlife but the highlight was the canopy tour. A series of cables have been set up all over the forest at heights of 400 hundred feet high and 3000 feet long. The guides fit you with a harness, and then hook you to a pulley and a way you go flying through the air screaming ´"HOLY SHIT I AM
Butterfly
inside wings are completely different GOING TO DIE" It was so much fun! Halloween wa a bizzarre experience. We were invited to a local party in the middle of no where. 4 of us thought it would be fun so we jumped in the back of a pick up truck and took a very long bimpy ride to this party. It was really creepy at first. All locals staring at us with very Goth like costumes, and here we are with our plain Gringo costumes. It was a bit unnerving at first but it ended up being a pretty good laugh.
Next stop was Manuel Antonio National Park for a few days...It wasn´t a really exciting place but the walk through the park was great. It was set among some really great beaches and with it being the low season it meant that it was esy to find beaches with no one on them. The highlight for me was coming across a pack of white faced monkeys. They were great too watch. They were unafraid of me so they were literally within arms reach of away. One of them jumped at me and hissed as it tried to protect a female and baby that were
walking behind him. Glad no one was there to see how I screamed holy shit and ran back ten steps afraid of this cute little monkey.
From Manuel Antonio we travelled back to San Jose 6 hours for a one night stop over and the next day we were off to Tortugerra National Park...my favourite spot so far. It was a nature preserve that was travelled through by boat. We saw crocs, 3 species of monkeys, Sloths, Tucans, lizards, snakes, frogs, and the best part was watching dozens of baby sea turtles hatch and instinctively make their way to the sea.
We are now in Cahuita on the south east coast that´s known for another National park with beaches but unfortunately it has been raining since we arrived. It is our last day as a group and tomorrow I am on my own. The tour is supposed to end in San Jose, but I have decided to stay in Cahuita and travel south to Bocas Del Torro in Panama. It´s an island with supposedly good diving, and great beaches...but we are still in the middle of the rainy season....so I don´t have my hopes up to high on any sunshine.
However I will be keeping myself busy with my Spanish lessons. I have enrolled in a one week intensive program of 4 hours a day of class and also allows me to live with a Spanish family for a week to fully emerse myself into the language. What am I doing going to school on my holiday???????
Well that´s all the dribble that I can come up with today, hope everyone is well and I am going to try to post some photos again soon.
Bye for now
Troy
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mom
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killer monkeys
Hi Troy Glad to hear from you. The killer monkey story made me laugh out loud. Sounds like you are still having a blast and don't miss us yet. Can't wait to hear about your next adventure. Love mom