August 14, 2009: San Jose, Costa Rica - Owens B-Day!!

Liam: Owen woke us up at 6:30 to get ready for our tour at 7 o’clock. We were all in the lobby of the hotel at 7 a.m., the tour bus was a little late and came about 7:10. When we got on the bus our tour guide told us we were headed to the Irazu volcano. While driving our guide gave us come facts and information about Costa Rica. It took us about an hour and a half to drive to the volcano; we got there around 9. After spending about twenty minutes looking at the craters of the volcano, we drove down the volcano and got breakfast at a restaurant on the down. When everyone was full we got back into the bus and drove down into the city of Cartago, the old capital of Costa Rica.

After looking at the ruins of an old church we got in the bus once more and drove to San Jose where we met another tour bus and our groups joined on one bus. Now with the sixteen people that we had we made our way to the reservation owned by the tour company we were with. Along the way we passed through a giant national park where Jurassic Park was filmed. Soon after leaving the park, we stopped for a bathroom break. Once everyone was ready we all got into the bus and drove to the dock of the boat that would take us to the reservation. We piled in the boat and got ready to leave. Soon after leaving the dock the driver stopped the boat because he had spotted howler monkeys. We all got pictures, then the driver revved the engine of the boat so we could here the monkey’s howl. We continued down the river until one of the guides saw rustling in the trees, it turned out to be a white faced monkey, and we stopped for a while to snap some pictures. Owen got some great ones.

As we journeyed onward we saw several crocodiles on the edges of the river and a group of bats hanging on a tree. After about forty minutes on the boat we came to the reservation where we got out, some people went to eat lunch while others went to go zip line the canopy. Sean, Owen, and I decided to go canopying, we made a short drive to the first platform, where we climbed a latter. When on the top of the platform an instructor connected us to the cable and we took the zip line to the next platform. There were thirteen platforms in all and most you had to climb a latter to get to the next one. Connecting two platforms was a hanging bridge that swung as we crossed it. Going through all of the platforms took about forty minutes, when we got to the last one we had a short walk back to the reservation center for lunch. We had a great lunch of beef, rice, beans, tortillas, and salad.

After we finished eating we went for a short horse back ride. When we returned to the center we went to small huts that held different animals. We first went to a hut that had many different types of snakes in it. From there we went to a hut full of frogs, then finally we went to a hut that had butterflies flying around. When we had many photos, we made our way back to the boat. The driver drove us up the river where we got to the bus and drove back to our hotel. We left our hotel at 7am and returned at 8:30pm, it was an action-packed day.

Owen: Couldn’t ask for a better birthday! I woke up the brothers early in the morning, and we embarked on an extremely adventurous day. Our guide, Juan Carlos, was awesome, and our group very kind. The crew was made up of the three Oregonians and a few others. Carlos and Theresa – a couple from L.A. who spoke fluent Spanish and were very nice. Norma – A woman from Mexico who knew very little English. And finally, Thomas, a man from Dallas, Texas who was working for the airport.

We did many various activities throughout the day, most of which Liam has already bored you with. I got some great photos of wildlife with Grandpa Dan’s camera, which he lent me. Thanks again Grandpa Dan!

Upon returning to the Hotel Rincon, we got some fried plantains and nachos, bumped into some very loud, and very drunk Australians, and went to our room for the night. After showers and changing of clothes, we all ate some chocolate covered marshmallows with M&Ms on top for my birthday. I had a lot of fun today, and I am positive I am leaving so much out!

P.S. I just wanted to talk about this fruit stand we stopped at! We all got 2 bananas each, so six total, for 200 Colones, which is only about 40 cents! Also, I got these two big green oranges, which might be my new favorite fruit for another 200 Colones! They taste like a Satsuma but a bit more sour, and similarly, they peel very easily.

Sean: On our first full day in Costa Rica we went all out! Since it was Owens birthday we decided to take a full day tour and experience the country. The only thing the boys forgot was that we also squeezed a short horseback ride in after eating lunch! Things are off to a great start! Tomorrow we are going to have a more mellow day exploring a bit more of the city before meeting up with our tour group at 5:00 pm. Ohh and i think i have figured out why some of the pictures can't be enlarged. Future posts should not have the problem (though todays will)...