Day 7

Ziplining!

This was the day that Mrs. Langford had been counting down to and Mrs. Ogle had been dreading--Zipline day!!  Our driver picked us up and we drove for a little over an  hour to the Artola area.  Since we were at a lower elevation than in Arenal, the forest was different.  It was called a dry forest, because it does not receive as much rain as the higher altitude forests.  It had more deciduous trees than the rain forests, much more like the forests in Alabama.  

Once we arrived, we were quickly put into our harnesses and joined the group who was already waiting.  Somehow, it ended up that I (Mrs. Langford) had to go first!!  The guys who were running it would go ahead, usually upside down, which of course made me feel very safe.  Definitely a hard act to follow!!   We had 11 ziplines to 'zip'.  Some were shorter than others, and some were faster, depending on the angle of the lines.  The operaters had their own zipline humor.  Just before I went on my third zipline, the guy looked at my pulley and said, 'uh-oh, something's not right', then he gave the pulley a thump and said, 'I think its okay now!' (You THINK it's okay? ) Everybody's a comedian.  

Mrs. Ogle had been worried about this the whole trip, but somewhere in the middle she actually started to enjoy it.  At the end she was so glad she did it.  It's a rewarding and exhilarating  feeling to prove that you can do something that you did not think you could ever do, and for Mrs. Ogle that something was ziplining.  She'll probably be skydiving next!    

Mrs. Ogle after she finished the last zipline!

We saw a family of howler monkeys while we were ziplining! This was the closest we had seen them the whole trip!  A mother had a baby on her back while she jumped from limb to limb!  The male was making a lot of noise to scare away predators (which he assumed we were) from his family.  

Ziplining was an awesome experience!!

We did it! (and survived to tell about it!)

Day 6 Rincon de la Vieja Volcano

Hiking the Rincon De La Vieja Volcano

Today our guide drove us two hours to an active volcano. Because it is still active, we could  not go to the crater.  It is so tall, that it would have taken an 8 hour hike just to go to the summit.  However, our 5 hour hike unveiled some amazing discoveries for us.  The base of the volcano is a tropical rain forest.  This particular rain forest is home to the huge Strangler Fig, which actually grow around other trees and strangles them to death.  Below are several pictures of the strangler figs we saw on our hike.  

Strangler figs will grow up around a tree and thicken up until they actually kill the tree. When the tree dies, it decays and eventually leaves a  hollow place inside the strangler tree.  The strangler tree survives because it has reached the top of the forest and receives sunlight.  

Below is a heated spring. The underground magma was heating the water.  Usually magma is several miles deep but this magna was close to the underground spring which caused the water to become so hot it was boiling!!  

Below is a picture and a video of a fumarole.  Fumaroles are vents from which volcanic gas escapes into the atmosphere. They may persist for decades or centuries if they are above a 
persistent heat source (active Magma chamber) or disappear within weeks to months if they occur atop a fresh volcanic deposit that quickly cools. The temperature of this fumarole range from 192-248 degrees (F). The gases can be dangerous if inhaled.  Fumaroles are always a sign of an active volcano!

We are standing in front of a bubbling mud pit.  The temperature was between 192-248 degrees Fahrenheit.  (water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Crossing bridges was always Mrs. Ogle's favorite part!  

 This was our guide, Alejandro, who seemed to know everything about the plants and wildlife.  Here he was showing us how orchids were growing on this piece of wood.  To be a tour guide in Costa Rica, you have to go to through extensive training and pass certification exams.  We were amazed at his knowledge of everything to do with Costa Rica. We were the students today and we were very glad there was not a test at the end of the hike! 

Look at this seed (below) still hanging on to this baby seedling.  I wonder if this young tree will make it to adulthood!  Competition for light is fierce in a rain forest!  Only the strong survive!

 Dragonfly

 Decomposing trees that give nutrients back to the soil.

 This interesting looking mushroom is a type of fungi.  It reproduces by letting out a powder through the hole in the top.   

 Fungi doing its job of decomposing this fallen tree. 

 Where the red fern grows.....

 Look at all these insects on this leaf.  They look similar to ladybugs.  

This is a termite mound. The termites build their nests out of pieces of soil that they use their saliva to glue together, along with their own excrement.  

An ant cutter mound (below)

Video of an ant cutter mound

Costa Rica will be opening this Geothermal Plant in 2015.  This is a perfect example of how volcanoes can be constructive.  It will be able to supply enough electricity for 100,000 homes!  It uses the steam from the heated water underground.  The water is heated from the magma chambers that are close to the surface.  Alaska, Hawaii,  and Iceland also use energy generated from geothermal sources.  

These green pipes are taking the steam from underground and transporting it to the Geothermal Plant to be turned in to electricity.  

 After a long day, we were treated to a traditional Costa Rican meal.  Costa Ricans eat beans and rice at almost every meal.  (yes, breakfast too).  They eat beef, chicken, and fish, along with a lot of fresh fruit.  We ate a lot of plantain.  Plantains are like bananas but sweeter.  

We needed to get some rest before our next day of ziplining!!  

Day 5 

Tamarindo Beach 

Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica

We said goodbye to Arenal this morning and survived a five hour van journey to Tamarindo Beach.  The ride was a narrow two lane road through mountains with at least a million curves.  Mrs. Ogle said she felt like she was on the Mind Bender roller coaster at Six Flags after eating six corn dogs and not being able to get off.  Travel tip of the day:    We are also learning that you need to sit as close to the front as possible in a shuttle van. Being in the back, as we were, was like riding Fu Man Chu at the rodeo.  

However, the rough ride was all worth it when we arrived at our nice resort.   Our room was not yet ready so we ventured down the shady rainforest path which opened up to the Pacific Ocean. The beach was quite a surprise.  Unlike our white sandy beaches in the Gulf of Mexico, this beach has brownish sand.   Black and brown pillow lava jutted from the shore out into the surf about 40 yards.   We could see the barnacles and marine life that were waiting on high tide to cover them. Black crabs darted all around the sand and the lava.   

A close up picture of the beach lava

While we were unpacking in our room, we heard a strange sound so we went outside to investigate.  Here's a video of us hunting... Mrs. Langford's ribs hurt from laughing at this!  

We found the monkey up in a tree.  We had been told that howler monkeys will try to poop on you if you get too close, so that thought was in the back of our mind, as well as being attacked by a rogue monkey!  The monkeys also woke us up before dawn the next morning by 'howling', hence the name Howler Monkey.  

We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach.  Afterward, we saw a beautiful Pacific Ocean sunset as we walked along the beach.  Below is Mrs. Ogle.

Below is the Pacific Ocean sunset.  Why can't you see the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean?

Day 4 Cano Negro River

                                             Day 4

Today we took a boat trip down the Cano Negro River, which is on the Nicaraguan border.  It was a two hour trip, with two other families with us, both from California.  One of the couples were great photographers, and they are going to send us some of their pictures. Our iPhones did not take great pictures because many of the animals were high in the trees, so even though we saw lots of animals, we don't have many to post.

For example, we were thrilled by a family of Howler Monkeys.  The male was howling at us as a sign of protection because his baby and four other family members were there with him.  We saw numerous colorful birds, such as egrets, herons, and anhingas (piano birds).

Below are a few of the animals that we were able to capture on our phones:

This is a cayman (or caiman).  It is related to a crocodile because it has a pointed snout and its teeth are on the outside of its mouth.  The difference?  The cayman is smaller and has stripes instead of crocodile spots.

The White-Faced Monkeys, or Capuchins, were so exciting to watch. There were about ten of them, and they were climbing all over the tree branches. One tried to sneak up on a Jesus Christ Lizard (yes, that is the real name), but the lizard got into the water before a) he was eaten, and b) before anyone got a picture of him. Two of the monkeys came within 2 yards of our boat, showing their teeth to scare us away. It was adorable!

Mrs. Langford and Mrs. Ogle on the Cano Negro River

Day 3  

Arenal Volcano

We arrived at our hotel and it was dark and storming. We had no idea what to expect when we opened the door this morning!  Were we ever surprised! This is what you call a room with a view! 

                    Video of Arenal Volcano from our room!

Our third day began with a trip to the Hanging Bridges tour. Oscar was our guide and made the tour even more fascinating.  He started off by finding an eyelash pit viper coiled up inside in the bananas.  Yikes!  It reminded us that we had to be very careful.  

The Hanging Bridges is a great example of how Costa Rica is using its resources to produce income, as well as preserving the rainforests.  The family that owned the land created these bridges through the forests which draws a lot of money from tourism.  We learned that the forests are now protected and people have to get permission to even cut down a tree on their own land.  

There were 9 hanging bridges.  They would shake and sway a bit when you walked across, which is a bit scary when you are 900 feet above the forests!

The leafcutter ants were working hard.  One group can take all the leaves off of a tree in one day!  They cut them and take them off the tree and take them underground to make a compost which cultivate into fungii which they eat.  It is an example of symbiotic relationship in nature.    

The rainforest trees and plants were amazing.   Strangler Fig.  It actually strangles the tree and the tree dies. 

                                                         The base of a Kapok tree. The wood is used to make boats and canoes, and the fibers are used to make pillows and life jackets.  

                                                   The bromeliad plant grows in trees.  Pineapple is a type of bromeliad!

Waterfall at the bottom of the rainforest.  

REALLY??  

Walking Palm tree.  The roots keep spreading out, making it look like it has legs.










Tuesday night we had a hike around the base of Arenal volcano.  Arenal was emitting lava flows until 3 years ago.   We walked along the hardened lava rock trails.  We saw huge boulders hardened from the eruption of cinders and lava bombs.   

 Mrs. Ogle standing next to a cinder bomb that exploded out of the volcano.  Notice how far away it landed from the volcano!

The night ended with a relaxing soak in the geothermal hot springs.   The springs are heated from the geothermal energy from the magma underground.  This might be one of our favorite parts of our trip!  The pools closer to the top were the hottest, then got a bit cooler as the water flowed down to the lower pools.  

                        Soaking in the hot geothermal pools. 
                        Best professional development ever! :-)