Thursday, May 03, 2007

Selva Verde Animals: May 3, 2007

Today was excellent!!! We woke up early this morning, had breakfast, and waited for our driver to transfer us to Selva Verde Lodge. We were all a little sad to leave our new friend for a couple of days, but we had no choice. It was a few hour drive, but seeing the country on the way was absolutely gorgeous. It was sad to see some of the destructed areas but it was neat to see some of the smaller villages on the way. We got to the lodge around lunch time and checked our stuff in. Let me tell you, Selva Verde is a LOT more humid and hot than Escazu was. Walking from the entrance to our rooms made me drenched in sweat. These next few days were more vacation days than actual study or school days. We all relaxed on this part of our trip. It was really nice.

We all were so hot and humid we decided we might as well go swimming! It was really nice to be in the pool that was surrounded by huge trees! I just kept looking around and finding all of these different birds and butterflies! We saw so many hummingbirds, a lot of them we couldn't identify. It was also nice hanging out by the pool because we met some of the other guests staying at the lodge. There was an American couple there that were Ohio State fans, so of course we ragged on them (because we are all Gator fans!). And there was another cute couple that were apart of the Holbrook Travel Company. They were too cute (and actually getting married now, so congrats), and apart of the Gator Nation as well! It is crazy how big, yet so small this Earth is! I mean here we are in this other country during a school break and we run into fellow Gators, thats just crazy!

So after the pool we went to lunch. This part of the trip was not strictly planned so we had flexibility in what we wanted to do with our time. There are so many options that the lodge has to offer, horse back riding, white water rafting, jungle tours, cooking classes... a lot of options! This afternoon we decided to go white water rafting!!! I have never been but it has always looked like something I would enjoy! I was so excited!

We took the bus down and were divided into two rafts. We met our guides and got into our rafts. We had a quick lesson for those (me) who never went before. We got into our rafts and paddled upstream just to get used to what we had to do. We also went up to where a ten foot cliff was. Most of us jumped out and went jumping off of the cliff. Ten feet doesn't sound like much until you are there looking off. But without hesitation I jumped in and went back a couple of times. On one jump we all held hands and jumped off. It was pretty cool because as a side job there is a guy that goes down the river and takes pictures of the groups. At the end you have the option of buying the pictures. So everything was photographed without actually having to take a camera.

After our jumps we piled back into our rafts and were off for a great experience. Our guide was pretty shy but every once in a while he would make a joke that was very dry but hilarious! While going down the river we saw so many cool birds and animals!!! I was absolutely stunned by the animals we saw! At one turn we had to paddle hard and then stop and then paddle hard so more because of the way the river turned. However, being the spotter that I am, I kept seeing all of these birds. On one bend there was this absolutely GORGEOUS tiger heron just standing perfectly still watching us. So of course I stop paddling and stare and start pointing. Others in my raft stop and stare, but you can't do that so we were told, nicely, to keep paddling. Then on another shore there were two Keel-billed toucans hopping around on the rocks! Toucans, about 15 feet away. Toucans people! Toucans! They were gorgeous and I stopped paddling again... and was, rightfully yelled at again.. hehe. This time however after a little ways we were able to stop paddling, turn around, and watch the toucans again. They were just beautiful.

We could have stopped the tour right there... I was so happy. We keep going a little further and are told we are going to stop on the side for a snack (fresh fruit... delicious). We dump out into the river and float to the edge. We sit out and enjoy our fresh fruit. And while sitting there we look around in the trees and see about 3 or 4 more toucans! They were jumping from tree to tree! Once they flew away, we packed up and jumped back in the raft. Because we refueled with the delicious fruit we hit the harder part of the river. We go down a part that runs right into the side of a cliff. It was pretty cool.. I think I was laughing the whole time because it was so much fun! We get around that bend and all of sudden the other raft starts yelling at us to come over to part of the river. And there on the edge is a basilisk (the Jesus Christ lizard) and it actually ran on water. It went from one part of the river to another and ran on top of the water! I only saw a little of that as we were behind the other group. Once over to where the group was we looked up into the tree and saw some really cool howler monkeys! They are the coolest monkeys because they are so creepy sounding in the morning... it is really an experience hearing them howl. And then on the way back to the drop off point way ahead are two macaws flying over the river. They fly out to look for food during the day and then fly back at night to their nests... amazing creatures!

We continue down the river on this amazing high from all of the animals and end our tour. It was really great and our guides were very cool. Along the way they showed us different parts of the river and different aspects of the forest. At one point during the tour our guide stopped off on a bank in the middle of the river. There was a futbol ball in the middle of the river that obviously was knocked off of the edge. He jumped out of the raft, got the ball, and when the tour was over gave it back to the kids that lost it. All down the river, there are houses on one side of the river and jungle on the other side.

After thanking our guides, we headed back to the hotel (which was like a five minute walk through the educational part of Selva Verde Lodge). Some of us were able to take showers but some were not because the power went out for a little while. There were political debates going on at the time and one thing that happens is the company will turn off power to certain areas. During this point, I realized how much I don't know about other countries and the politics that happen. I have tried to stay up with world news but you can never know everything about everywhere...

That night, we had dinner and went on a night hike. This was pretty cool because we saw some glow in the dark fungus (I think it was fungus)... we also saw a few frogs, centipedes, millipedes, spiders (which I am not a big fan of), and heard some animal noises. Once back from our night hike, we were going to cross the bridge that connects the hotel to their protected second growth forests. I made it about half way out until I was too creeped out. You know spiders? You know how they come out at night? You know how sometimes you don't see their webs until it was too late? I kept ducking and I didn't want to mess with their nests because it takes them so long to make, but I kept running into some... I couldn't do it so I headed back. But luckily I did because right at the end near a pond was a red-eyed leaf frog.

To top off this wonderful evening we all went to the bar and had a few drinks to toast to the day and the amazing time we were having... little did we know the amazingness we would experience the next day at Selva Verde Biological Center!

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