Try Zip Lining!

 

Last weekend we went to hotel Los Lagos at the base of Volcan Arenal.  It is one of the cone-topped volcanoes in Costa Rica. 

My favorite thing we did was zip lining.  First we went to a practice line, which was very short and low to the ground.  Then we went in a 4X4 truck up the mountain.  Next, we got onto the first platform.  There were a few people ahead of me and they went zipping down the line.  Finally, it was my turn.  It was a little scary at first, but then I loved it. 

I heard the line making a sound like a bee as I zipped along.  While I was flying through the air, I saw the brown and green grass in the countryside, farm houses, beautiful, green treetops, and at the end I saw horses.  

I went on fourteen different length lines.  Every time the guide on the platform at the far end of the line was ready for another person to come he hit the cable with the bottom of his hand.  It made a sound on the end where we were waiting and that meant go!  I felt excited when I heard it because that meant I was going to go soon.

Overall I loved it.  I didn't like the harness, though.  The equipment on it was a little heavy.  Zip lining was still so exciting!

-Seth Wilson

Bird sightings

While we were on our high-elevation trip to the valley of San Gerardo de Dota, we took pictures of several different birds.  We then looked them up and found out their names.  Some of the pictures below are pictures we didn't take, but a majority of them we took.

Black billed Nightengale Thrush

Green Violet-Ear Hummingbird

The national bird of Costa Rica- Yiguirro, a clay-colored Thrush

Bananaquit (Tanager family)

Female flame-colored tanager

Blue Crowned Motmot

Male flame-colored Tanager

-The Wilson Family

Try Surfing!!

Seth and his surf teacher

Surfing is a great experience.  You should go surfing at Playa Dominical because the teachers are good.  They give you a smile and cheer when you ride a wave.  They make it fun.  One even lifted me up onto his head while I was on the surfboard. 

My teachers were good at teaching me how to surf.  First they draw a line in the hot sand for you to practice standing up and then they bring you to the water to try to surf.  The teachers find perfect waves and then they push you into the current.  Before they let go they say, "Up!" and you jump up.  It's not easy to do, so at first I crawled up and I probably won't jump up for a while because it's hard to do.  After I rode a wave my teacher said, "Do you want to ride a smaaall, green wave?"  in a Spanish accent.  "Yes, I would love to!" I excitedly would say.

It is exciting to stand up on the board.  It felt like going a little over the speed limit on the highway.  Just like the highway it's busy with surfers.  When you fall off it feels like you fell off into the snow.  The most exciting thing is when you ride a wave all the way into the shore. 

Seth balancing on a surfboard

I can't rent a board and just go to the ocean and surf, yet.  I want to keep having surf lessons to practice more.  I hope I can see you practicing surfing at the beach soon!

-Seth Wilson

You know you live in the tropics when......

You see a giant bug on the grocery store shelves
You walk out the front door and see 4 Toucans sitting in a tree
The only thing that feels warmer than the tropical air around you is the ocean water that you are walking into
You have to clean behind the stove regularly to prevent infestations of insects
Your clothes and shoes mold just hanging in the closet
It's a good idea to look UP when parking your car in a parking lot- just to be sure that coconuts won't fall on your car
You can buy rice at the grocery store in 30 lb bags
Monkeys join you at your restaurant
When nearly every trip out of the city requires a 4 x 4
A full, perfectly ripe pineapple costs .75 cents
When you're greeted by a giant spider when you're doing your laundry.
It is common in the rainy season for it to rain HARD for 8 hours a day
No matter the time of year, each day brings 12 hours of daylight
Each night your porch lights attracts a new batch of interesting creatures to learn about (shown here- a 4 inch grasshopper and a 3 inch leaf bug)

Our new house

Our new house in Santa Barbara de Heredia, just outside San Jose, is a small house on a 10 acre lot.  This is truly a little house on the prairie!  Our landlady also lives on the property and she has a huge garden.  She lets us pick from it and she grows limes, oranges, sweet potatoes, kale, and basil.  Santa Barbara is a walkable town, and has everything you need.  We'll be living here until we leave on Costa Rica on March 10.  Here are some pictures of the property: