As Promised...
Pictures from last weekend, and an update.
view of manuel antonio peninsula from hotel
some reptile outside my room
now down on peninsula, after wandering through aforementioned view
a few tourists
another nice view
a cool cricket
Plus, I'll upload three monkey videos as soon as I get back to school
This past weekend, I went with a group of 14 to Arenal Volcano, a spot highly recommended by my host sister because “it is very pointy.” We stayed at a hotel at the base of the volcano that boasted on-site horseback riding (I understandably passed), a spa (to get wrapped in chocolate), hot springs, a swim-up bar, and more. Clearly, no man was behind this type of advanced planning. The whole experience felt antithetical to everything we’ve learned so far this semester about the over-consumption of the North and the effect that has on the developing South’s disinclination to protect their resources from over-industrialization. But the swim-up bar was really cool.
Saturday we went to a river that starts with the letter P and went whitewater rafting for the afternoon. I was only one of three people who had done this before, so they put me in the front of the boat (like John Kerry in Vietnam). There were no major or even minor catastrophes on our raft; everyone rowed when ordered to by the guide, everyone was drenched, only one person was tossed from the raft and I was hailed as I saved her life (maybe an overstatement, but I did save her paddle) which entitled me to a free drink later that night. Regrettably, she was not a freemason.
Saturday night is only worth mentioning because our international human rights professor decided to make the trek to the volcano with us, and he was assigned to room with me and two other gentlemen. One of which, Ram (pronounced “rom”), is my host family roommate who has slept in every single one of our professor’s classes. This could have been an awkward situation, but it wasn’t. He ended up buying drinks for the Indian and playing pool with him until 2 a.m. This is a seriously cool hombre. In fact, this night was the third night I was out at a bar with my professor, that I ended up going home earlier than he did. This is patently lame. He has this deep, authoritative, but slightly lispy (he is from Bar-the-lona) voice that slew any woman from our class who stopped long enough to talk to him. Last weekend at a karaoke bar, he sang a convincing rendition of “Stranger in the Night” that I videotaped, but isn’t worth uploading because you can’t hear it very well over the hordes of screaming women. Freaking Euros.
Sunday’s highlight was a canopy tour through the forests surrounding the base of the volcano. I was expecting something along the lines of those cable cars that go from Tomorrowland to Frontier Land at Disneyland, but was pleasantly surprised to find something much more dangerous. A van drives us somewhere near the midway-point of the volcano, then leaves us with three guides and a photographer. We are all wearing a harness around our thighs, some kind of mountain climby clip thing at our waists, a helmet, and a leather glove. The way it works is we start at a platform atop a very high tree (one so high you can’t see the ground from where you are). There is a cable connecting your tree to another one anywhere from 100 to 500 meters away. The guide puts a pulley looking thing over the cable, clips your waist to it, then pushes you across to the next one. The only way to slow down is to pull down on the cable with your leather gloved hand. Some of the cables are taut enough that you can look down as you glide over rivers, through the canopy, and get leaves in your mouth. Others are very loose, and you feel like you might fall to your death until the cable tightens and you whoosh across into the face of the photographer waiting at the next platform. I wish I had brought my own camera for this, as there was a cool toucan sighting (bigger and louder than you think), and it would have made for a cool video. Maybe next time.
A few pictures I did take from Arenal and the surrounding areas.
about as close as I'll get to a river crocodile
a baby one
a butterfly trying to pass as a dead leaf
lake arenal, as you can see the volcano is obscured. d'oh.
view of manuel antonio peninsula from hotel
some reptile outside my room
now down on peninsula, after wandering through aforementioned view
a few tourists
another nice view
a cool cricket
Plus, I'll upload three monkey videos as soon as I get back to school
This past weekend, I went with a group of 14 to Arenal Volcano, a spot highly recommended by my host sister because “it is very pointy.” We stayed at a hotel at the base of the volcano that boasted on-site horseback riding (I understandably passed), a spa (to get wrapped in chocolate), hot springs, a swim-up bar, and more. Clearly, no man was behind this type of advanced planning. The whole experience felt antithetical to everything we’ve learned so far this semester about the over-consumption of the North and the effect that has on the developing South’s disinclination to protect their resources from over-industrialization. But the swim-up bar was really cool.
Saturday we went to a river that starts with the letter P and went whitewater rafting for the afternoon. I was only one of three people who had done this before, so they put me in the front of the boat (like John Kerry in Vietnam). There were no major or even minor catastrophes on our raft; everyone rowed when ordered to by the guide, everyone was drenched, only one person was tossed from the raft and I was hailed as I saved her life (maybe an overstatement, but I did save her paddle) which entitled me to a free drink later that night. Regrettably, she was not a freemason.
Saturday night is only worth mentioning because our international human rights professor decided to make the trek to the volcano with us, and he was assigned to room with me and two other gentlemen. One of which, Ram (pronounced “rom”), is my host family roommate who has slept in every single one of our professor’s classes. This could have been an awkward situation, but it wasn’t. He ended up buying drinks for the Indian and playing pool with him until 2 a.m. This is a seriously cool hombre. In fact, this night was the third night I was out at a bar with my professor, that I ended up going home earlier than he did. This is patently lame. He has this deep, authoritative, but slightly lispy (he is from Bar-the-lona) voice that slew any woman from our class who stopped long enough to talk to him. Last weekend at a karaoke bar, he sang a convincing rendition of “Stranger in the Night” that I videotaped, but isn’t worth uploading because you can’t hear it very well over the hordes of screaming women. Freaking Euros.
Sunday’s highlight was a canopy tour through the forests surrounding the base of the volcano. I was expecting something along the lines of those cable cars that go from Tomorrowland to Frontier Land at Disneyland, but was pleasantly surprised to find something much more dangerous. A van drives us somewhere near the midway-point of the volcano, then leaves us with three guides and a photographer. We are all wearing a harness around our thighs, some kind of mountain climby clip thing at our waists, a helmet, and a leather glove. The way it works is we start at a platform atop a very high tree (one so high you can’t see the ground from where you are). There is a cable connecting your tree to another one anywhere from 100 to 500 meters away. The guide puts a pulley looking thing over the cable, clips your waist to it, then pushes you across to the next one. The only way to slow down is to pull down on the cable with your leather gloved hand. Some of the cables are taut enough that you can look down as you glide over rivers, through the canopy, and get leaves in your mouth. Others are very loose, and you feel like you might fall to your death until the cable tightens and you whoosh across into the face of the photographer waiting at the next platform. I wish I had brought my own camera for this, as there was a cool toucan sighting (bigger and louder than you think), and it would have made for a cool video. Maybe next time.
A few pictures I did take from Arenal and the surrounding areas.
about as close as I'll get to a river crocodile
a baby one
a butterfly trying to pass as a dead leaf
lake arenal, as you can see the volcano is obscured. d'oh.
Labels: costa rica
This entry was posted by VJ, on
Monday, July 30, 2007.
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Again I'm the first one to post and you know what that means... Hey I need to see a picture of you with all your gear on. I'm sure you look like a funny miner, priceless make sure you upload that picture. Hey did that toucan come with a bowl of fruit loops? Have fun keep the post coming buddy. P.S. How about a shout out buddy.
some very nice photos! i'm very much looking forward to seeing some of these sights myself. crocodiles? you didn't say anything about crocodiles!
i was at your house tonight loving the madness. your mom fell asleep around 11 with everyone downstairs debating various topics. your aunts say it is very curious that your excursion coincided with their visit and i promised we would go visit. tencia is very concerned about us taking up the yoke as baby producers but don't worry - leave it to ray and gaby to take the pressure off. i'm serious.
i wish you had been there tonight but on the flip side, i keep realizing how blessed i am to be a part of your family. despite your absence, tonight was like any other night; people in and out, babies and dishes being passed around, me helping eric with his homework.
where's the post about your classes?
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