Weeks 4 and 5 --- Saying adios to Costa Rica
Hello again. Time is flying by and it is amazing that our surfing/Spanish classes are coming to an end. We leave Costa Rica on 8/16 and head south to Ecuador. Unbelievable!!
Well, as Chris mentioned at the end of the last entry, last week I had a pretty scary experience. We were loading up the van to leave the beach after a morning of surfing, when Anne, another student, noticed a bunch of people running down the beach. Right then we spotted a person floating in the surf and we all took off sprinting down to the water's edge. Teal, our surf instructor, got his board out of the car and was in the water faster than you can imagine. He got the guy onto his board and then some other people helped bring him to the beach. He wasn't breathing. One of the guys who helped pull him out checked his ABCs and then immediately started doing compressions on his stomach. (Wrong!) When Anne saw this she took over and started doing compressions on his chest and I did the breathing. The Red Cross ambulance finally got there and took him away. It was all such a chaotic mess of panic, Spanish, and English...I hope we did all the right things. In retrospect you think of all the things you would have/should have done differently...but hindsight is always 20/20, right? We found out later that he did start breathing again and that he was in the hospital in Puntarenas (about 1 hour from Jaco). We haven't heard anything else. It's unclear how long he was without oxygen...I just hope he's okay.
Our third weekend at the School of the World was a long one (three days) to allow us to do some more extensive traveling. On Friday morning we rented a car and headed north to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve with my parents and Liza, another student at the school. The roads are paved until you get about 40 kilometers from the park. The road then turns to a mixture of rocks and dirt...mostly rocks. It was a rough ride, but the destination definitely made the journey worthwhile. On Friday night we went on a guided night hike through Hidden Valley. We saw tarantulas, sleeping birds, lots of spiders, and even a porcupine.
On Saturday morning we got an early start to explore the cloud forest. We arrived at the park around 7:30. My parents decided to do a guided hike through a small portion of the forest, while Chris, Liza, and I did a 6km hike around the perimeter of the forest. A light rain was falling while we ambled through the misty forest, but we welcomed the cool weather after many hot, humid days in Jaco. Our hike led us to several amazing lookouts and to the continental divide. We walked along the divide for a few kilometers before heading off to see a small waterfall and then back to the park entrance.
The afternoon held more thrilling adventures. We decided to do a canopy tour through another forest reserve located in Santa Elena, just a few kilometers from Monteverde. A canopy tour involves zip lining along a cable from tree platform to tree platform. Chris, Liza, and I donned harnesses, helmets, and gloves and headed out. After a short demonstration and safety instructions, we climbed a metal staircase to a platform high in a tree. The guide connects your pulley to the cable and then connects a safety caribiner (spelling?) to the cable as well. With a push you´re off and flying through the forest canopy. Before the push, the guide tells you when and how hard to brake (you brake by applying pressure to the top of the cable with one hand). In most cases you don´t need to brake at all, or just at the very end before you reach the platform. Getting the braking right is important --- you don´t want to stop before you reach the platform because then there´s no way to get going again. You have to swivel around and pull yourself hand-over-hand to the platform. Not fun. All in all there were fifteen rides. In most cases you could see the next platform, but on the longest (480 meters) you could not. It was a pretty amazing experience --- flying through the forest like a bird. This was definitely a thrill ride and not a way to see animals or see much more than treetops. WHEEEEEEE!!!!
The folks that organized the canopy tour also offer a hanging bridges hike in the same area. The hanging bridges were amazing --- long bridges through the middle of the forest that really allowed you to spy birds and check out the canopy up close.
The next day we headed down the mountain on the same bumpy road we came in on. We took my parents to San Jose, where we would meet up with them a week later. We then headed back to Jaco to start our fourth and final week of classes.
The final week was great. The surf got much better --- weeks 2 and 3 had been stormy and therefore pretty challenging for this beginner. I had a few good rides (which simply means I stood up instead of getting crushed by the wave) and left feeling like I´ll keep surfing when I get home. My friend Becky asked if I´m ready to audition for Blue Crush 2: Over 30 and hanging 10. Not quite (unless they need some good wipeout scenes), but I´ll keep trying!!
Our last big hurrah with the School of the World was a BBQ dinner at Villa Creole. The owners cooked up some great salads, made fresh bread, had tons of marinated meat ready to BBQ and made a huge and delish vegetable lasagne for the vegetarians in the group. It was a great way to wind up the session and gave everyone a chance to hang out before people started to leave.
It may be hard to imagine, but Chris and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on August 11. It seems like it was just yesterday...but I guess that time flies when you´re having fun, right? Anyway, we kept it simple with a walk on the beach at sunset and dinner at our favorite restaurant in Jaco, Monica´s Place (Mmmm...pasta).
On Saturday we headed to San Jose and spent a few days there doing chores (laundry, burning CDs, sending postcards, writing updates for yáll) before heading south to Quito, Ecuador.
As I finish up this update I am south of the equator where it is officially winter....although Quito is known for its "eternal spring." The temps here are much more comfortable than in Central America. It´s dry and in the 80s during the day and at night it cools down enough to wear sleeves. Ahhhhhh.
Tomorrow we´re off to Mitad del Mundo (aka the equator) where I´m sure we´ll take lots of touristy shots with one foot in each hemisphere, half of your body in summer, half in winter, etc. Should be a blast.
More to come....hope you´re enjoying our trip!!
Miss you all,
Amy
Well, as Chris mentioned at the end of the last entry, last week I had a pretty scary experience. We were loading up the van to leave the beach after a morning of surfing, when Anne, another student, noticed a bunch of people running down the beach. Right then we spotted a person floating in the surf and we all took off sprinting down to the water's edge. Teal, our surf instructor, got his board out of the car and was in the water faster than you can imagine. He got the guy onto his board and then some other people helped bring him to the beach. He wasn't breathing. One of the guys who helped pull him out checked his ABCs and then immediately started doing compressions on his stomach. (Wrong!) When Anne saw this she took over and started doing compressions on his chest and I did the breathing. The Red Cross ambulance finally got there and took him away. It was all such a chaotic mess of panic, Spanish, and English...I hope we did all the right things. In retrospect you think of all the things you would have/should have done differently...but hindsight is always 20/20, right? We found out later that he did start breathing again and that he was in the hospital in Puntarenas (about 1 hour from Jaco). We haven't heard anything else. It's unclear how long he was without oxygen...I just hope he's okay.
Our third weekend at the School of the World was a long one (three days) to allow us to do some more extensive traveling. On Friday morning we rented a car and headed north to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve with my parents and Liza, another student at the school. The roads are paved until you get about 40 kilometers from the park. The road then turns to a mixture of rocks and dirt...mostly rocks. It was a rough ride, but the destination definitely made the journey worthwhile. On Friday night we went on a guided night hike through Hidden Valley. We saw tarantulas, sleeping birds, lots of spiders, and even a porcupine.
On Saturday morning we got an early start to explore the cloud forest. We arrived at the park around 7:30. My parents decided to do a guided hike through a small portion of the forest, while Chris, Liza, and I did a 6km hike around the perimeter of the forest. A light rain was falling while we ambled through the misty forest, but we welcomed the cool weather after many hot, humid days in Jaco. Our hike led us to several amazing lookouts and to the continental divide. We walked along the divide for a few kilometers before heading off to see a small waterfall and then back to the park entrance.
The afternoon held more thrilling adventures. We decided to do a canopy tour through another forest reserve located in Santa Elena, just a few kilometers from Monteverde. A canopy tour involves zip lining along a cable from tree platform to tree platform. Chris, Liza, and I donned harnesses, helmets, and gloves and headed out. After a short demonstration and safety instructions, we climbed a metal staircase to a platform high in a tree. The guide connects your pulley to the cable and then connects a safety caribiner (spelling?) to the cable as well. With a push you´re off and flying through the forest canopy. Before the push, the guide tells you when and how hard to brake (you brake by applying pressure to the top of the cable with one hand). In most cases you don´t need to brake at all, or just at the very end before you reach the platform. Getting the braking right is important --- you don´t want to stop before you reach the platform because then there´s no way to get going again. You have to swivel around and pull yourself hand-over-hand to the platform. Not fun. All in all there were fifteen rides. In most cases you could see the next platform, but on the longest (480 meters) you could not. It was a pretty amazing experience --- flying through the forest like a bird. This was definitely a thrill ride and not a way to see animals or see much more than treetops. WHEEEEEEE!!!!
The folks that organized the canopy tour also offer a hanging bridges hike in the same area. The hanging bridges were amazing --- long bridges through the middle of the forest that really allowed you to spy birds and check out the canopy up close.
The next day we headed down the mountain on the same bumpy road we came in on. We took my parents to San Jose, where we would meet up with them a week later. We then headed back to Jaco to start our fourth and final week of classes.
The final week was great. The surf got much better --- weeks 2 and 3 had been stormy and therefore pretty challenging for this beginner. I had a few good rides (which simply means I stood up instead of getting crushed by the wave) and left feeling like I´ll keep surfing when I get home. My friend Becky asked if I´m ready to audition for Blue Crush 2: Over 30 and hanging 10. Not quite (unless they need some good wipeout scenes), but I´ll keep trying!!
Our last big hurrah with the School of the World was a BBQ dinner at Villa Creole. The owners cooked up some great salads, made fresh bread, had tons of marinated meat ready to BBQ and made a huge and delish vegetable lasagne for the vegetarians in the group. It was a great way to wind up the session and gave everyone a chance to hang out before people started to leave.
It may be hard to imagine, but Chris and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary on August 11. It seems like it was just yesterday...but I guess that time flies when you´re having fun, right? Anyway, we kept it simple with a walk on the beach at sunset and dinner at our favorite restaurant in Jaco, Monica´s Place (Mmmm...pasta).
On Saturday we headed to San Jose and spent a few days there doing chores (laundry, burning CDs, sending postcards, writing updates for yáll) before heading south to Quito, Ecuador.
As I finish up this update I am south of the equator where it is officially winter....although Quito is known for its "eternal spring." The temps here are much more comfortable than in Central America. It´s dry and in the 80s during the day and at night it cools down enough to wear sleeves. Ahhhhhh.
Tomorrow we´re off to Mitad del Mundo (aka the equator) where I´m sure we´ll take lots of touristy shots with one foot in each hemisphere, half of your body in summer, half in winter, etc. Should be a blast.
More to come....hope you´re enjoying our trip!!
Miss you all,
Amy
posted by Amy at
Sunday, August 15, 2004
1 Comments:
Zipping along the trees sounds AWESOME!!!
Enjoy my Ecuador. Make sure to visit the church of San Francisco while in Quito.
Nos Vemos y Pasen Bien,
Tom
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