Arrival: Monteverde

Well, I made it through two weeks of camping, hiking, sweating, and taking no showers. At first it bothered me being so dirty, but at the end of it, I don't think I mind. BUT, we are terribly disgusting. I should go take a shower now that showers are available, but I haven't had a computer in SO long. I could tell you how disgusting we all are, but it just wouldn't be the same as you being here and smelling us. So I'm gonna bottle up my sweat and body odor and bring it back to the States for your benefit. You can decide if I'm kidding or not. The camping was hard; we hiked miles and miles each day, sweated a bunch, and didn't take showers. But it was all worth it because of what we saw and experienced. First major spot we stopped at was Cerro de la Muerte (Death's Hill), which is a cloud forest.

We also saw some cute little hummingbirds (took forever to get a good picture because they move so quickly).

We then went to Sierpe to see the mangrove swamps. Very unique habitat. We climbed through a grove(?) of red mangroves which have prop roots. For being such thin roots, they're very strong and stable. Only a few of us fell into the water (I didn't). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of us going across the roots because I didn't want to risk the chance of my camera dropping into the water, so you'll just have to be satisfied with a picture of the trees.

We spent about five days at San Pedrillo on the beach. Here's a sunset picture of the place.

We really did get spoiled by the beauty of the place. We slept in tents on the beach and took little day hikes around the national park. After San Pedrillo we worked our way north to Carara National Park and then to Santa Rosa National Park. We camped at Santa Rose for five days also. Here are some pictures of the animals I’ve seen at these places.
That last one is just a joke. We broke up into groups to investigate different aspects of tropical forests and one group came back with this stuffed monkey they found in the trees with one of its legs torn off. We named him Clarence, kept him at the camp as our mascot, and took him with us to Monteverde where we are now. It’s gross and disgusting and needs a bath (like the rest of us), so he fits right in. Today we went to a waterfall near some volcanoes and visited an animal rescue center. There were some cougars, leopards, ocelots, otters, macaws, toucans, and these cute little bunnies that were saved from being sold to the market to be eaten.

I wanted to take one home with me, especially the one pictured above. Arrived in Monteverde this evening, which completes my synopsis of the journey so far. I just have to add that the group I’m traveling with is great. I’ve grown to love them all in the short period of time I’ve known them (it’s partly because we were forced to stay in close quarters and put up with each other’s stench). I don’t have a picture of all of them together, so I’ll give you a few.

Left to right: Madie, Michael, Moncho (TA), Hillary, and James

Amy, Denise (tagging along with her mother who is the logistic coordinator), Tiffany, Justin, and Emily

Chelsea, Kelsy, Clif, and Rachel

We come from all over the States, but we’ve bonded to the point that we’re almost like family. I’m gonna be super sad when I have to leave them after this program ends because I know I most likely will never see them again. But I’m trying not to think about that right now. I’m gonna stop now and go take a shower because I’m starting to smell myself. It doesn’t smell like flowers…