Waterfalls and Amigos

---

Greetings friends,

So things have gotten off to a great start (much better than last years car problems). Scott and I took a 2am flght to San Jose. I really enjoy being in the International terminal of the airport. It feels as though you are already in another country even though you are just a few moving platforms away from flights to Deluth. I attempted my first spanish interaction with a Guatamalan women sittnig next to us. It was a miserable failure. I could have sworn she needed a pen, but she just stared at me blankly. Surely my spanish isnt that bad?! A bit later I noticed this woman kept walking up and down the aisle even though the food cart was in the way. This made her pacing quite difficult and it became clear that she was lost. She could not find her seat...including one time when she was standing next to me in Her vacant seat waiting for the cart to pass. But it all eventuallyworked out.

We opted for the adventure(budget) transportation route and took a bus to a cab to another bus to arrive in the town of Turialba. This town is known for Rafting, and it a nice midway point to meet up with Dave. AFter 36 hours of travel, Scott and I passed out for nearly 12 hours straight of sleep. WAM!

Today Scott and I went Canyoning. We were the only 2 people on the tour! I am definitely not experiencing the rumor that Costa Rica is touristy yet. The tour included repelling down 4 waterfalls, blasting down 4 ziplines, a wobbly suspension bridge through the forest canopy and a bit of climbing. All of this was topped off with a delicious meal in a jungle lodge. They really know how to organize a day! Sadly, I do not have pictures as this was a very wet day. I did bring an underwater video camera case on the trip, but this is much too large for these types of activities. This is the group we did it with

http://www.explornatura.com/

You can get an idea of the fun from there.

In the afternoon, Scott and I were executing surround recording experiments on our hotel balcony when I hear a voice shout BRAD! Its Dave plus 2! The Fellowship is complete. We will embark on a rafting trip tomorrow and then off to the deep Jungles of the Osa Peninsula.

I promise more pics and audio later, but not all internet cafes are created equally. I had to scan through ASCI sets just to discover that Alt 64 is the @ sign and Alt 33 is ! So USB connections and upload speed might be too much to ask here.

ADIOS

---

Comments

[raena]

sweet!
I'm hanging on your every word. What fantastic times you are having. Post more.

[Jenny]

Hooray!
I'm glad you all met up successfully - I knew you would! Those things always just tend to work out like that. :) And it sounds like your trip is off to a REALLY fun start. Dave and I actually went canyoning together in Switzerland several years ago and had a blast doing it, so glad you had fun too. I particularly liked the part where the German guides were telling us the exact positions we needed to jump through the rocks and into the pools of water in so that we wouldn't hurt ourselvses - lots of trust involved in all these adventures! Anyways, glad you're all together and give Dave a big hug from me.

[Rob]

Spanglish
I wonder if you said something inappropriate to that woman in spanish....

[kelly]

deep jungle
be careful in the deep jungle. lions and tigers and bears...

[Jade]

bravo to adventures!
Brad! Wow you're on the road again! The travel plan sounds awesome! Can't want to see some pictures :) Have a great time!!

[Tassos]

The saga begins!
I wont believe any of this is true until I see pictures and audio. For all I know, you're just hiding under your bed in Venice writing this on your iPhone!

[inbetweenanalienabduction]

keep on trucking
good to know things are going well. at this moment my munchies are kicking in and all i want to know is what to order at this jungle lodge of yours