Dec 272008
 
Goodbye SFO

Leaving San Francisco

We left home at 7:30am for our 9:30am flight out of SFO. Everything went smoothly, except Eric’s been fighting a cold and Kevin started getting sick last night, and is feeling worse this morning. We had a three hour layover in Dallas that ended up being closer to four due to delays from high winds at the airport closing two runways. At least DFA is more like a mall than an airport, so keeping occupied wasn’t an issue.

Another four hour flight and we were back in San Jose, but this time Costa Rica. Kevin isn’t getting any better, so we’re not making plans for any wake up calls tomorrow.

Costa Rica Passport Stamp

My passport – proof that they let me in.

Dec 302008
 

Today was four hours of riding in the bus, broken up with a number in interesting stops. We left San Jose at 7:00am, traveling east through the Braulio Carrillo National Park, over the Continental Divide to the Caribbean Sea.

Our first stop was in the Braulio Carrillo National Forest for an aerial tram tour of the rain forest.

Aerial Tram

Before the tram ride, we had a guided nature walk through the bottom of the forest. At the head of the trail there was a three toed sloth and her baby which we observed for a bit before heading into the forest.

Rain Forest Nature Hike

On the nature trail

Leaf Cutter Ant Crossing

Leaf Cutter Ant Crossing.

We learned quite a bit about the biodiversity of the region, including the difference between a vine and an air root. Vines grow up from the ground, air roots come down from the plants in the trees. Tarzan swung on air roots, not vines.

Monkey Vines

“Monkey Vine”

Coolest insect: a bullet ant. My photo didn’t come out very well, but they’re about an inch and a half long and have an almost paralyzing bite. I didn’t get close enough for the shot. Duh.

Fungus

These fungi are about 3/4″ across. Check out the tiny red flies on them.

Fungus, Again

Don’t eat it.

The cable-suspended tram travels a one and a half hour round trip through all three levels of the canopy. You travel close to the ground, then through the middle canopy, and then for most of the return trip you travel at or above the top of the canopy. It was incredible seeing the complexity of the environment, and trying to grasp the interwoven relationships of all the creatures and flora that inhabited it.

Aerial Tram Views

Heading out into the rain forest at the lower level.

Aerial Tram Views

The trip back over the canopy.

Jan 022009
 

We woke up to mostly clear skies this morning, with the volcano above us sporting a cloudy cap that changed every minute. While Sarah and most of the rest of the group headed out to a boat tour near the border of Nicaragua, Eric, Kevin and I headed out to do some zip lining.

The Arenal Mundo Aventura experience was recommended to us so we had booked three reservations the day before. They picked us up at the hotel at 7:30am, and after a couple of other stops to pick up four others we headed over to their park, just a few kilometers outside Fortuna.

This was a great zip line experience, the first for all of us. After a safety introduction they loaded us into something like a bus that was towed up a dirt road by a tractor to a cable platform. We got out there, put on our harnesses and hiked up the mountain for another 15 minutes on a dense trail that was mostly stairs. That took us to the first of ten zip lines that we would ride most of the way back down the mountain.

Zipline Ready

Kevin and Eric harnassed up and ready to go.

Zipline Ready

Getting psyched to zip over that waterfall.

A zip line is a cable strung between two points that you ride down alone, suspended from a pulley. In our case, the cables were stretched across deep rain forest canyons cut by a river, and included the dramatic La Fortuna Waterfall that was easily 100’ tall. Some of the cables spanned canyons hundreds of feet deep.

The first three cables were fairly short, and each was faster than the prior. This was to get you comfortable with the ride, with the proper position, and with controlling your speed for a gentler stop at the end.

Go Into The Light

Kevin, riding into the light.

Coming Down

Viewed from the end of a cable with Eric coming down.

Gentle Landing

Eric, making a soft two point landing on one of the platforms.

Me, Landing

I came in a little faster on this one.

The next seven rides were much longer and faster. The longest ride was almost a kilometer, and on the fastest cable they said we traveled at about 35-40 mph. The views were incredible, at one point looking straight down at the pool below the waterfall, on another line looking out to the city of Fortuna, and on another zipping across a canyon then into a hole cut through the canopy to ride between the trees. In total we traveled about three kilometers of cable over a 45 minute period.

A Long Way To Go

Another launch, this time on one of the longer cables. If you look and the larger version of this image (click to go to Flickr) you can just make out the landing platform next to the top of the waterfall.

Yeh, It's Way Up High

Yes, it’s a long way down.

980 Meters

The longest cable, at 980 meters, goes over a waterfall and two canyons. That hole in the trees about 3/4s of the way up the image is the starting platform.

Hauling Himself In

If you happen to slow down along the way, you might not make it to the end. In that case you get to haul yourself in, as demonstrated here by Kevin. Notice the concern expressed by our guide (left).

As a part of the adventure, after the zip lines you visit a re-creation of an indigenous Maleku village, then ride horses back down the dirt road to the main reception area.

Maleku Village

In their re-creation of an indigenous Costa Rican Maleku village, this young man told us about their lifestyle and culture.

Only one of our two guides rode down with us, and he stayed in the rear to make sure there weren’t any stragglers. The horses knew the routine so well that you didn’t have to use your reins. In fact, the herd was lead down the trail by an unsaddled black horse and no guide. A couple of times the horses would break into a trot, but otherwise it was a gentle and fun ride down. Eric’s saddle was missing the right stirrup though, so the trotting wasn’t quite so comfortable for him.

I'm Such a Cowboy

I’m such a cowboy. Even more impressive is Kevin in the background. They didn’t tell us the horses’ names, so Kevin called his ‘Rodeo’.

A Horse With No Name

Mine: a horse with no name.

Riding Down The Mountain

See that black horse way out front? He was our guide down the mountain.

We were taken back to the hotel, where we joined up for lunch with a few other people from our tour who had decided not to take the morning trip. After a nap and some R&R, we called a cab and headed into town to meet up with Sarah and the rest of the group.