tour

Dec 312008
 

Lunch was back at the lodge, and then another boat tour of the river and channels. We started out spotting a sloth and her baby hanging in a dense tree almost over the water, so we were able to get very close in the boat. Even though there were fifteen or more of us, she didn’t seem concerned at all about our presence, and the two of them continued eating.

Sloth with Baby

Mother sloth with baby.

As we were traveling up one of the canals, it began to rain. By the time the boat’s pilot had pulled out the ponchos and passed them out it had become a tropical torrent. It was warm out, but everything not under a poncho was instantly soaked, and before a few minutes were up, those of us on the right side of the boat had our feet in about three inches of water. Kevin, being on the port side, was able to keep his shoes dry.

It's Called a Rain Forest For a Reason

It’s called a Rain Forest for a reason.

Rain

Luckily I had my waterproof point-and-shoot camera with me, so I could take riveting shots like this.

The wildlife viewing isn’t so good in that kind of downpour, so we headed back into the lodge.

Once dried off, napped and cleaned up, we headed into the bar before dinner for some cards, New Year’s Eve libations and live Calypso music.

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.

Jan 032009
 

Another 45 minutes of travel and we stopped at the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve where we had a 45 walk with a naturalist through the cloud forest. More leaf cutter ants(!) and some beautiful birds were the most visible wildlife, plus we learned more about the flora of a cloud forest.

Oliver - Our Nature Guide

Oliver, our naturalist guide.

Cloud Forest, and Me

Cloud forest, and me.

More Leaf Cutter Ants!

More leaf cutter ants! The worker ant has cut the leaf and is carrying it back to the nest. The smaller ant you see on the leaf is a nurse – she’s cleaning the leaf and will help grow fungus on the leaves inside the nest.

Leaf Cutter Ant Nest

This leaf cutter ant nest is over 10 years old. What you see here is about 8 feet in diameter, and very fragile. If you were to step on it it could collapse.

Insect Nest

Built on the bottom of a giant leaf, this nest is home to either bees or wasps – I didn’t stick around to find out.

Beauty

One of the many beautiful birds we saw in the cloud forest.

Twenty minutes of the drive to and from the cloud forest was along a twisty two way, one lane, road. Normally not that unique or interesting, unless you’re doing it in a tour bus with small trucks coming the other way. Marcos proved his skills.

A half an hour further down the road and we stopped for lunch, then on to Doubletree in Puntarenas for the next two nights.

Jan 052009
 

Our last full day in Costa Rica, and the main agenda item is to get back to San Jose to fly out tomorrow. We had three stops along the way – the first was in a town whose name I missed, where we walked around the plaza, visited the church, and most importantly had ice cream. Kevin and I have agreed that a proper diet should include ice cream three hours after breakfast every day if possible.

View From The Front Seat

Our turn in the front seat today. Much more thrilling than I thought – this bus is gigantic.

Our lunch stop was in the town of Sarchi, which is famous for their painted oxcarts and painted everything else. We watched some of the local artists painting souvenirs.

Painter in Sarchi

Painter in Sarchi

Paint

Cans of paint.

Paint

Paint pots.

Palette

Palette detail.

Artist's Drawers

Artist’s drawers.

Jun 062010
 

Day 1: Instead of napping we decided to use the ‘force your body to time shift’ approach to jet lag – after checking into our apartment we went to breakfast and started sightseeing.

Apartment on Curzon Street

Apartment on Curzon Street

Our apartment is on Curzon Street in Mayfair – it’s small, but nice and very convenient to the tube; it’s also across the street from Shepherd Market, a small area with shops and restaurants. The spot we chose for breakfast was okay, but we’re not really used to runny eggs and English style bacon and hash browns. Tomorrow we’ll try eating in, though we also found some nice pastry cafes right across the street.

Walking through Green Park

Walking through Green Park

Guard at Buckingham Palace

Guard at Buckingham Palace

Burning off the bacon, we walked through Green Park and past Buckingham Palace, then jumped the “Original Tour” double decker bus to get situated and oriented to the city, disembarking for the Tower of London, then rejoining for the rest of the loop afterwards.

Kevin and Eric atop the tour bus

Kevin and Eric atop the tour bus

The tour of the Tower of London was quite entertaining – they are hosted by Yomen of the Guard who live within the walls. We learned about many beheadings, mucky moats, how to become a Beefeater, and nuances of armor.

Beefeater, Yeoman Warder and Tourguide

Beefeater, Yeoman Warder and Tourguide

After the rest of the bus tour, including three loops through Trafalgar Square (where pigeons have been eradicated by fining humans for feeding them and sicking hawks on the birds that choose to stick around anyway), we returned home for a nap.

Late that afternoon a quick two stop ride in the tube took us back to the Thames for a ride on the London Eye. Even after 23 years of marriage I wasn’t aware of the depth of Sarah’s discomfort with heights until I asked her to take my picture near the top of the loop. Oops.

View from the top of the loop of the London Eye

View from the top of the loop of the London Eye

We had a very nice meal at an Italian restaurant near the Eye, then hopped the tube for home. Time to finally get caught up on some of that sleep!