Day Five in Costa Rica

Day Five in Costa Rica


At breakfast, Davy not only poured my coffee, but also gave me my daily Spanish lesson.  Someday Davey hopes to be a teacher.  I think he'll make a "Profesor excelente."  Some rain came to the Rainforest today.  I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that it rains and rains often in a Rainforest!  The rain comes in intermittent showers at this time of the year. It did not prevent us from enjoying some time at the thermal pool and even soaking up a little sun in the morning hours.

The afternoon was bright with sunlight as we joined a group of eleven folk for a tour of the Rainforest via the  "hanging" bridges. This 2-3 mile hike through the Rainforest over 15 bridges, some stationery and some suspended over the forest, provides accessibility to the flora and fauna from different perspectives as you walk through different levels of the jungle.  What a treat it was to walk above the forest's canopy.

Many tourists take this hike thinking they will see all the wildlife a Rainforest has to offer.  It doesn't often work out that way.  Here are the birds, insects, reptiles, and animals we observed along our walk:  four Howling Monkeys (way up high in the trees), five or six different bird species and two hummingbirds--male and female--according to the guide, the male "dancing for his lady;" two wild turkeys, 1 turkey vulture,  5 Coati,  3 squirrels, 2 snakes (little, but very poisonous ones), 1 little iguana, a tarantula and leaf-cutter ants (lots of them!).   The highlight of our walk was seeing an Anteater as we crossed one of the suspension bridges--this sight was, according to our guide, a rare one.

Have you ever seen a tourist who is more interested in getting a photo than actually looking at and basking in the experience of whatever is being seen?  I think we had eight of them on our hanging bridges tour!  I was so much in awe of what I was seeing, so absorbed in the experience of being in the Rainforest, that my photos during the hike are few.  However, I took into my mind and heart many an indelible sight, sound, and smell, that I will treasure more than any photograph could possibly display.