Costa Rica: ¨Did you REALLY stand me up?¨

Posted on by lindsay
After an embarrassingly large lunch yesterday afternoon, I took a leisurely stroll around Monteverde/Santa Elena while enjoying the ice cream, cookies, and beer that I had just purchased from the supermercado. I made it back to my hotel just in time to catch the van for my guided nighttime hike through the rainforest. Upon starting down the trail, our guide immediately found a sloth and two green pit vipers, which made for a dramatic start to our trip. We then passed a large traveling band of army ants, which were unremarkable until we ventured into the nearby underbrush and were attacked. I sustained only one bite above my ankle socks, but it turned out to be both painful and itchy. If I wasn´t such a cruel person, I would have probably felt sorry for the idiotic man who was wearing sandals, but hey, that´s natural selection.During the hike, we saw ...continue reading.

Costa Rica: ¨It would be happiness in a bag.¨

Posted on by lindsay
Note: This post was written on Tuesday morning, but is not being posted until today because I just had time to finish it now.I decided to kill a bit of time yesterday before my volcano tour, so I found a place to rent a horse for a short ride. My guide spoke a little bit of English, and he led us through both forest and countryside, showing me interesting plants and animals along the way. At one point, we passed an unidentified fruit-bearing tree. My guide reached up, ripped off a fist-sized fruit, and indicated without futhur explanation that I should take a bite of it. We were in the middle of nowhere and I was in no mood to be poisoned, so I waited until he took a bite of his own fruit before trying mine. It turned out to be guava.The ride was completely exhilarating - we galloped ...continue reading.

Costa Rica: ¨You don´t smell offensive.¨

Posted on by lindsay
After my last entry yesterday afternoon, I decided to hike down one of the nearby roads in search of entertainment. I saw signs advertising an ecological park with a $10 admission fee, but as I neared the park entrance, I also saw a part of the barbed wire fence surrounding the park that looked, um, passable. I hopped the fence and began trekking through the tall grass and underbrush towards a river I saw in the distance.When I got to the river, I was hot and it looked highly inviting, so I stripped off my boots and socks, rolled up my pants, and waded in. I then spent a marvelous hour exploring the rocks and the small rapids in the river. When the sun started to set, I began working my way back across the river to where I had discarded my boots. However, three feet from my shoes, I ...continue reading.

Crazy Donald

Posted on by lindsay
There is a guy who works at my hotel named Donald, and he is crazy. Literally certifiably psychotic. At first my companions and I thought he was drunk, based on his demeanor, his speech, and his red face and bloodshot eyes. But then we realized that he is either taking straight moonshine through an IV, or he just nuts.Having Donald around is like finding a schizophrenic homeless man in New York City and inviting him to follow you around like a stray dog would follow a woman in a dress made of beef. He doesn´t really follow conversations except the trains of thought in his own mind, and he rides those trains all the time, meaning that regardless of what we are discussing, he is still talking about his own subjects. These subjects consist of three things: describing people around him as members of his family (I was his sister), ...continue reading.

A Different Kind of Me

Posted on by lindsay
Those of you who know me well are most likely well acquainted with my neurotic tendencies. I´m the type of person who disinfects their keyboard with isopropyl alcohol, who wipes the bathroom sink down with bleach wipes twice a day, and who dons a biohazard suit before exterminating a stray bug. Simply stated, I´m an obsessive compulsive wimp.But, my friends, I think the tide is changing.Last night, while in the shower, a large spider appeared in all of his eight-legged horror. The old me would have screamed, fled the shower, and perhaps the city. The new me shrugged in irritation, squished it with my shower shoe, and kicked it over to the drain. I then continued my luxuriously long, hot shower.I´m so rugged. Okay, well probably not, but still. It´s an improvement.

Costa Rica: ¨It´s like a buffet.¨

Posted on by lindsay
At an hour that is far too early to mention, I peeled myself out of bed and caught a bus to Caño Negro. The bus was exceptionally luxurious for a Costa Rican bus, and I spent the ride talking to two amusing women, both of whom were also backpacking alone. While on the bus, we passed two sloths that were nestled snugly in their trees. As expected, they did not do much, but I still managed to photograph them and their three-toed goodness. We also got out to take pictures of giant iguanas, which are called ¨Chickens of the Tree¨ for some inexplicable reason.Upon arriving at Caño Negro, we boarded a boat that puttered down the river and stopped every fifteen feet to allow us to photograph every bird, mammal, and leaf we passed. It was exceptionally relaxing and we saw a wonderful array of creatures: birds (including the rare ...continue reading.