Hang on tight

Costa Rica is, well, bumpy. Yesterday I went river rafting on Class 3-4 rapids and it was amazing but I was the only one who got thrown from the raft into the water. I grabbed an oar handle for dear life and then started to worry about hitting a rock as I plunged through the rest of the rapids. Luckily I came out unscathed.

Before that, we were at a remote (and I mean REMOTE) jungle resort called Rara Avis. The only way there is by a 3.5 hour tractor ride. This really means a trailer dragged by a tractor on a potholed, muddy path pretending to be a road. Of course, halfway there the flatbed broke away from the tractor and we walked the rest of the way in our loaner rubber boots. At Rara Avis, we did a lot of hiking and I can honestly say I hope never to get that muddy again. Rather than face the tractor going back, I joined 3 others in walking the whole way--we arrived exactly 2 minutes ahead of the tractor (sigh).

Today I went canyoneering, which is rappelling down waterfalls. It was pretty neat but I wish we could have done more. Before Rara Avis, we were in a town called Tortuguero where we saw green turtles laying eggs at night and walking back into the ocean. The turtles only come on land for laying eggs, probably because they are about 3 feet long and that is a lot to heft around. The conservation efforts for the turtles seem to be a success story for the green turtles, if to late for some other species.

Got to run to go hike a volcano...