Sarapiqui

Author: Sarah
Location: Sarapiqui
After packing our bags at La Selva and eating breakfast we meet up with several jungle guides and split up into two groups for a nature hike. We saw ants as big as Cheetos, very smelly pigs, Macaws, spiders almost as huge as the ones in Jumanji, and legions of army ants. The first group also claims that they were privy to the second-ever jaguar sighting in the history of La Selva, though proof remains to be seen. Then we got onto the buss and went to the white-water rafting headquarters. It was the maiden voyage for many but our experienced guides assured us of the upcoming AWESOME time. Once we were a little bit down the river many stopped to jump off a side cliff into the water. Even further along we pulled ashore for a much needed break with watermelon (sanda) and pineapples (pia) during this break we climbed the giant hill to the top of a swinging bridge and a proud few bravely jumped of it. Despite Richard's claims that the bridge was a mere thirty feet above the water, we all remain convinced that it had to have been at least 100ft!!! The last leg of the trip presented a fabulous opportunity to test out physics knowledge on a not-so-stable swinging vine. The principle in question is the one about gravity. The process of overcoming gravity and swinging up turned out to be more difficult than previously thought as Sawyer found out when he broke it on his second attempt after a remarkably familiar brave few had tried it out. After a classic, and now familiar, Costa Rican lunch of chicken, frijoles, and rice we began our trip back through the mountains towards San Jose. Along the way we stopped at a gorgeous waterfall and had a great time getting way too close to the edge. Shortly after this we stopped at an unsuspecting roadside stand where Jorge once again cleaned out the Pringles section. Another two hours passed and we finally arrived back in Santa Ana to meet our home stay families. And that is where the real fun started. The reports were all spectacular, with different stories from each house. The themes that remained constant, however, were undoubtedly food, fun, ad then more food. Sydney described a fabulous evening of games like Hide and Seek and Tag during which Sydney was almost attacked by the Lorena family ferocious Chihuahua . Josh and Richard had nothing but praise for the Seguro family's hospitality and awesomeness. Josh even helped their host mother, and English student, with her homework. Mia and Laura also had and exciting linguistic experience as they tried to read their phrasebook while jumping up and down on the trampoline at their home stay family's house. Sawyer and Jorge were fed to their hearts content (no small feat) and frijoles were in no short supply. Freddy and Max spent some quality time with their host family and looked at pictures from their aunt's wedding. However, Max, in trying to tell the bride how pretty her wedding (boda) picture looked, instead said how he had loved seeing the pictures of her birth. After a few confusing and abashed minutes of discussion, however, this mix-up was resolved (with lots of laughter ensuing). Deborah and Angela spent their evening repairing the damage that the lifeworks boys had inflicted upon her beloved Shamu dolphin stuffed animal. Their host mother kindly helped them to sew up a few missing stitches while they all watched Ice Age in Spanish. Ella and Hillary had the most lasagne they have ever eaten in one sitting and insist that it was also the best. Russell and Brad joined Colleen and I to ride the ATVs that our family owned. Despite the fact that I almost crashed into the first ever moving tree, a great time was had by all. In summary we all had an INCREDIBLE day and look forward to being back in la Carpio to finish our beloved wall.


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