Then, we went to two bars and danced and talked with the locals. Good thing my Spanish is improving or I would have been left in the dust! I really hate not being able to communicate with people when I know what I want to say, but just don't know the Spanish words to use. I think I'm going to take a Spanish class in whatever country I live next.
Saturday was spent recuperating and walking around the town, catching up on email and drinking lots of water. Sunday was amazing.
I went to Manuel Antonio National Park (photo of park entrance above) with Jason, another student from class. He's my age and in addition to Angela and Nahir, the person I get along with best. We live close to each other and he's my chaperon when we walk home from school. We got to the park around 10am and walked all of the trails there and hung out at the beach for an hour or so. The first few trails were gorgeous and very well kept up. I was surprised at how well they were maintained but a little sad that it was so touristy.
We saw our share of monkeys and various lizards, some beautiful birds and lots and lots of rain forest.
After taking the first few trails, we hung out at the beach for a while and saw even more monkeys. They come down out of the trees to steal beach-goers' food--right out from under them (literally) at times. I saw one come down from a tree, sneak up to a woman who was using her bag as a pillow, and the monkey reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic bag before she could react. It was pretty funny, but bad for the monkeys. They're eating way too much people food and getting heart disease and that kind of nasty stuff.
After the beach, Jason and I went on the hunt for the waterfall trail that we had heard about. On the way there, we saw a sloth in a tree (they REALLY do move incredibly slow) and three deer.
Seeing deer in a rain forest was quite strange. They were whitetails and an endangered species in Costa Rica. I took a million pictures of them and was able to walk right up to them. It was totally surreal and they were so calm. I plucked some leaves from the ground that they were eating and held them out to one of the deer. It actually ate the leaves right from my hand! Amazing to say the least and certainly not something that I'll ever be able to repeat, I'm sure. We found the waterfall trail and finally, we did some actual hiking. We had to climb over trees, under trees, wade through a couple of shallow rivers/streams, slip down some muddy hills and finally, got the payoff of a gorgeous waterfall at the end of the trail. We were the only people there and it was awesome to be that deep in the rain forest and feel like we were not in a park, but in the wilderness, on our own. Soon enough, it was 4pm and the park was closing so we had to return to the beach. It was a great day and I'm glad I got to explore the park.This weekend (tonight through Sunday), my friend Angela and I are driving to Arenal in the northwest part of the country where there is an active volcano. We're actually going to stay in a REAL hotel with REAL hot water. Oh, I can't wait!! There are also hot springs there that are pretty famous and lots of horseback riding. There are some caves there as well that I'd love to check out if they're not too wet and I can find a guide to take me. Angela lost her toenail in a night of drunken something and is in no shape to go with me. I'm really looking forward to getting out of Quepos and the thought of an actual shower with hot water is so appealing!
I hear that MA got a LOT of snow yesterday and I'm sure Phil is doing cartwheels of joy. Cathy is the best roommate ever for shoveling the driveway and sidewalks with our favorite boyfriend, Erik. Thanks guys! I hope everyone else is doing well and hello to you all. I can't believe that I'm going to be home so soon! Feel free to email b/c I love hearing about what's going on in your lives!
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