We left the Catarata Eco-lodge in the morning and headed towards Rincón de la Vieja. While this drive was not as bad as some others, my head was killing me when we got there. I'm sure that being dehydrated from sweating so much did not help though. We stopped at a grocery store to get lunch which was exciting and a good change. It was really fun to walk around the store and see the different Spanish names for things we knew such as "Zucaritas" for Frosted Flakes. Then we went to the national park and spent a long time walking around inside. While the main attraction of the event was supposed to be the boiling mud-pits, my favorite part was seeing the spider monkeys.
Almost right away Javier spotted the spider monkeys in the trees above us. There were several of them traveling some where and we were able to walk under them for a while, eventually getting some good pictures. Once again, this was a stroke of luck since most people do not see the quick moving spider monkeys. We also saw tons of the leaf cutter ants carrying heavy loads. Something my dad would have loved was the strangler trees. While it is sad to watch them kill the other trees, the way nature works is astounding. One tree looked like it had fallen down and then started growing again as normal. It was huge, and very cool. In this park we also got to see a baby iguana and a relative of the black widow, which was much bigger.
Boiling mud pits were cool, but after seeing one the others are not as impressive. The smell was also quite difficult to deal with for very long. I have never smelled sulfur like that before, it makes me wonder how the wildlife can live so close to it. On the way back Meredith opened her bag of chips and two of the rangers horses started following us to get at the food. This hiking trip was really fun, I am glad we did it. Next time I go back I will have to spend the day there so that I can hike to the crater (5 hours). After the park we drove down to the hotel, once again on a gravel road.
On the way down we saw many different pipes of the geothermic power plant. I have never seen anything like that, but I have never been to a place hot enough to create energy either. I assumed that the hotel we were going to was powered by this geothermal energy, but found out later that it has its own water source and therefore runs off of free hydraulic energy. This hotel was beautiful, another eco-lodge nestled next to the national park. We arrived and marveled at the horses grazing in the field next to the hotel. With not much to do at the hotel and no internet, the girls decided to do an ab workout and some yoga while the boys slept. It was very relaxing and a good way to stretch out the kinks from being on a bus so much.
Dinner was pleasant, and then as our cabin was attacked by moths, we retreated to get some rest. Getting up early is definitely caused by going to bed early. So far in Costa Rica we have gone to bed fairly early almost every night because it is dark and there is not much to do. Therefore we are getting the normal amount of sleep, just at different times. I enjoy getting up early tho, the mornings here have been beautiful and the day has not turned miserably hot yet.
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