Wednesday in Costa Rica

Today has been a VERY exciting day! We slept in late this morning. That in and of itself is fairly exciting! It happens SO rarely and these room darkening curtains here in the hotel are just so fabulous! Anyway....after sleeping in to a wonderfully later than normal hour, Chris and I headed downstairs for a yummy breakfast poolside. I had belgian waffles and hashbrowns and some sort of mexican rice with peppers and black beans. Then there was fresh pineapple and bacon and something else that I have no idea what it was...but it was quite yummy! Then, after breakfast, we got all of our gear together and headed out to the Rainforest. We took an amazing tram ride up and into the jungle canopy. Kind of like gondola things that carried you up into the trees and up the mountainside. It was so neat to be smack in the middle of the jungle and to travel through all of the different layers of the canopy. On the way up we saw beautiful waterfalls, an iguana up in the treetops, hummingbirds, and beautiful toucans with their gigantic and colorful beaks! It was SO neat! At the top, instead of riding the gondolas back down again, we were instead, led down a side path, where we were introduced to our very first zip line! We were all harnessed up in all sorts of gear...straps and belts and helmets and gloves. One at a time, we were clipped onto the cable and then sent out, soaring high above the jungle below us! It was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in my life. My legs were shaking so badly after the first two zip lines, that I did not know if my body was going to be able to handle the adrenaline rush. It was SO awesome! Time after time, we were clipped onto the different lines, and the guide there would say "one, two....See you!" . And just like that we would be airborne again. Flying through the air with a couple of hundred feet between us and the ground! To tell the truth, I am SHOCKED that I was able to go through with that. It was hands down, the scariest thing I have ever done in my life and it was just so unbelievably cool! At some points, we were sailing across the canopy, and could look out, high above the jungle and see the Pacific Ocean gleaming there in the distance and the cliffs and beaches. It was all very surreal at times! There were 10 zip lines in all. One of them was over 1000 feet long! Talk about FAST!!!!!! It was over in a matter of seconds. But SO unbelievable. Once we were safely back on the ground, we were given a tour of the reptiles of the jungle. We saw all sorts of boas and pit vipers and were amazed at their camouflage talents. It really was so neat. And by then, our tour guide who had driven us out to the rainforest was waiting to take us back to the hotel. On the way out, he found a giant termite nest on one of the trees on the side of the road. He stopped and got out and collected a handful of termites for us. On the way to the tour, he had been telling us about their protein content and their value as food in surviving in the jungle if need be. And so, he sat there with these live termites crawling across his hands for us. Who were we to refuse? So Chris and I plucked up the termites and ate them! Just like that! Live, wiggly little bugs! Again...very cool. And not at all yucky! They tasted like old, stale peanuts. Crunchy, obviously. While I would not probably order up a big bowl full for dinner, I also would not totally freak out and lay down and die rather than eat them if my survival depended on it! And so I got a little extra, albeit unusual, protein boost today!

Now that I am at the hotel and processing the day's activities, I am fairly certain that we must be insane. Those zip lines, while outrageously fun, were totally scary too. I shudder to think what would happen if ANYTHING had gone wrong. However...nothing did. We lived to tell about it and had a blast in the process! It's a memory I will NEVER forget! Pictures to come when I get home!