Part Two: Tortuguero cont.

So, Friday night was New Years Eve. We started it off with some hanging in one of the rooms. Below is a group pic of most of the girls. 


We then made our way to the little bar/party. There was a super fun calypso band, some dancing, and plenty of business at the bar. The drinking age is 18 in Costa Rica, so it was fun to be able to enjoy a delicious drink! There were plenty of fruity drinks, and of course the national beer, Imperial. 


Kelsey and Anna enjoying the party. Anna was my roommate at the hotel. Then a group shot of Sarah, Maureen, Kelsey, and Jake. 



Amanda from UMSL managed to find a local to dance with. Considering her obsession with dancing, this was no surprise. 


I managed to find Kate and Angie at the party as well! We all had a champagne toast at midnight and then literally headed straight to bed because..... 



We got up at 5 AM FOR A CANAL TOUR to see animals! Crazy! Below is the river in the morning.


We went on the early canal tour because there are supposed to be more animals. This is in fact questionable, because we mostly saw birds. A lot of birds. Granted, they were cool.


I decided to go on the Spanish tour boat, and our guide gave us a lot of info about the animals, etc. 


So, due to the lack of cool animals, we all started to get annoyed. Why we were up so early if there were no animals? Fortunately, we then saw some sweet monkeys and I was happy. 



Below is the jugnel we were surrounded by. It was so amazing.


We then spotted this cute little bird (yes, another), so we went to go look at it. 


We then noticed the caimen in the background, behind the bushes! Caimen is a type of alligator in Spanish. 


It was so cool! We were hoping the caimen would attack the bird and we'd get something like National Geographic, but alas, he was not hungry. 













After we got back and ate breakfast, we started looking around the back of our cabins. 


In a tree behind our room, we noticed a baby monkey and a mama! There were howler monkeys. I think the pictures speak for themselves about the awesomeness of this. 




We then went for our jungle walk. We did a loop along the water and then farther in. 


Saying it was muddy would be an understatement. But the trees and plants were amazing.


We even saw a monkey skeleton! It was creepy, but cool. 


Yes, I was rockin' the tiedye in the jungle. Notice the mud and tall boots. 


Some pretty plants that are everywhere!


One of the coolest trees of my life, handsdown. 


There was a strict rule to remain on the path due to little insects like this one. Appropriately named "bullet ant" if it bites you, it feels like you have a bullet inside you for 24 hours. It was massive. 


Did I stop and take a nap? NO! I went zip-lining after my jungle tour. We took boast across the river to the course. 


We got all harnessed up with helmets and gloves to prepare for our adventure. 



 I didn't take my camera along, but there were a couple bridges and several zip-lines. This was apparently a rather mild course, but it was awesome and beautiful to be up high in the trees. Below is the beginning that teaches you the techniques.


We then left and headed back for lunch. Finally, the sun was shining!!



We even saw a little lizard after lunch! Cute. 


I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool and kayaking in the canal. Angie and I kayaked all over the water, close to the shores, and in the middle. We even saw a gorgeous rainbow! Unfortunately, it started sprinkling, so we headed in. Just after I got back to the hotel, it started pouring with really strong winds. I think the rain part of the rainforest should be italicized. 

We then ate some grub, and had a little trivia night. My team did not dominate, nor did we embarrass ourselves. I passed out around 11 pm, having only taken a 20 minute nap before dinner. I woke up the next mroning, checked out, and started the 6-hour journey home. 

I met my home-stay sister, Sarah, from Switzerland. She had been volunteering at a Turtle hatched last week. 

I passed our pretty early after writing an essay for class and drinking some delicious horchata, a milk drink. Yummy. 

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