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Published: June 29th 2014
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Zip Lining
Marshall is suited up and ready to go. What a great day! The rain that we experienced the first few days stopped yesterday afternoon, and has not returned. Even though we are on a mountain, in a cloud forest, we had quite a bit of sun today. Still, there are water droplets in the air all of the time, and clouds move through regularly. Today was zip line day, and we were excited! I've done it before, but this was the best ever! There was a lot of uphill climbing between several of the lines, and I was the only one in the group over 40. I often had to stop to breathe, but the young guides were so helpful and supportive! Marshall was able to sprint up the slippery, steep walkways through the jungle. We had 16 different lines of all types. The long ones were my favorite. You really couldn't tell how high off the ground you were because there were so many mid-canopy trees below you that the ground was obscured. The views were amazing, but the best part was watching Marshall having a great time. Toward the end of the lines, there was a Tarzan platform where they attach your harness to a hanging rope.
Coatimundi
He came down out of the tree to check the garbage can. You step off the platform and plunge down about 30 feet, then you swing way forward and backward many times. What a hoot! I loved it, and Marshall filmed my great time! There was a photographer who went with us for a while and took some great pictures. At the end, we had all of the pictures put on a CD for $16. That was such a deal, and I like good deals. We saw two coatis today, and one was close enough for some good pictures. They also had a large hummingbird garden where the birds were abundant. We saw a couple of varieti! es that are only found in this area of Costa Rica. I'm not a birder, but I think I'm going to get a hummingbird feeder when I get home. They are so pretty. I learned that their feathers aren't actually colored, but when the light hits them, each variety has feathers that refract a specific color. If you look at a feather through a microscope, it will be brown. I'm filing that away in the miscellaneous area of my brain, so I can pull it out to answer a Jeopardy question. Next, we traveled down
Chocolate Tour
Marshall is grinding up the cacao nibs to make our sweet treat. the mountain a little ways to the Don Juan Coffee Plantation. They took us for a very informative tour of coffee from the tiny plants to the final product. Marshall and I are not coffee drinkers, but it was kind of interesting. They also demonstrated cacao and sugar cane production. We made some good stuff out of cocoa nibs and then got to try it out. We ground up some cocoa nibs, cocoa butter, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce. It was wonderful, and the little bit of spice made it even better! Who would have thought?! We also ran some sugar cane through a press, squeezed a lemon into it, and added some fresh ginger. It was wonderful, and everyone wanted more, although Marshall preferred the raw sugar cane. Most of the people tried out light roast and dark roast coffee, but I just bought some for family instead. At the end of the tour a traditional oxcart brought us back to the main building. I need to research if there's a difference between ox and cattle, because these oxen looked like really big steers!
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