Down from the Mountain

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This morning we left the cool mountain top of Monteverde to head to the lowlands and the beach. I managed to sit in the front seat for the hair-raising descent on the dirt road that leads down and around the mountain. I think I was better off not knowing that Juan Carlos, our driver, talks with his hands...taking both of them off the steering wheel at the same time. On the drive to Manuel Antonio, we made a monkey stop to see some howlers up in a tree. I've always been particularly amused by monkeys in the wild, so I continue to get excited about sightings. We made a pit stop further down the road, and we managed to see some black-striped iguanas. I'm accustomed to lizards in Florida, but these are big! Our guide assured us that they are not aggressive, so I managed to get some good pictures. Our next stop was in a beach town on the Pacific Ocean called Jaco. Marshall and I decided to check out the supermercado for some snacks and cultural awareness. The town was overflowing with national pride for the soccer team which was playing later in the afternoon. Cars were flying Costa Rican flags, kids were selling flags and t-shirts along the roadside, and there was loud music everywhere! The jungle comes right down to the beach in this area of the country, so our new hotel sits in the jungle, with the beach about a block away. This is a very beachy, touristy, jungly kind of place! When we arrived, the soccer game between Greece and Costa Rica was in progress, so everyone headed for the open-air bar to join the locals for this event. Apparently, it's been decades since Costa Rica made it to the World Cup, so enthusiasm was running high. I don't know anything about soccer, but after a tense game including overtimes, Costa Rica won. The crowd went wild! Some people had those noisy horns (vuvuzelas) and every vehicle passing by was blaring its horn. Our guide, Gilbert, was even teary, because he was so proud and excited. After an hour or so, stores shut down and most people went to nearby Quepos where the street party began. Marshall didn't think that was the place for him, so he hit the pool instead. There are three other boys on the trip who are about the same age, so they had a chance to bond with pool games followed by some television and pizza. As I was sitting by the pool with several other members of our tour, the white-faced monkeys put on a show. I think they were also excited about Costa Rica's win. They were jumping between trees and making lots of noise. While a sudden thunderstorm let loose, we called it a night so we would be ready to get up early for a catamaran cruise and snorkel excursion in the morning.

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Photos

Kodak Moment
We were coming off the mountain, and made a quick photo stop. Notice, that Marshall is easily as tall as Grandma.

View from below Monteverde
The Pacific Ocean is in the distance.

Howler Monkeys
I just can't get tired of seeing monkeys.