Hip hop, hip hop anonymous!

Saturday = one of the best days ever

Zip, zip, zip to my lou. Zip, zip, zip to my lou. Zip, zip, zip to my lou. Zip through the air my darling.

So, waking up at five is my new favorite thing. ;) Esta mañana, I get up and shower (despite my effort to convince myself it is not worth it). The shower is blissfully hot, so much so that I ignore the lack of pressure. The best thing about the bathroom – you can totally see through the door. It has been a funny experience for Alicia and me. After the shower, I am craving some coffee. This is when I realize that I can and will stop drinking coffee when I go back to the states. I hate the Monteverde cafe, and after a few sips, dispose of the unknowing offender. And thus, I do not have a cup of coffee all weekend. I don’t like the coffee in the states, therefore, I won’t drink it.

We meet at 5:45 and walk to a little bakery for breakfast (apple cinnamon bun? ¡Qué rico!) before catching the 6:30 bus to Santa Elena Reserve. We meet our guide David and shell out a dollar to rent some boots. These end up being my best investment of the day. My first thought as we begin the two hour hike through the reserve is “Damn, now this is a rainforest.” And it is. All the things you have imagined about a rainforest exist here. The trees are light and airy, and a layer of mist pours from the ground itself.

I listen attentively and snap pictures as David describes the wonders of el bosque to us. Here is what I learned (see Facebook for pics):
1. Mariposas like to get drunk in order to swerve in flight. Birds can only fly in a straight line. Good to know...
2. The cloud forest of Monteverde has over 500 species of trees; US and Europe and Canada combined have 380.
3. Honey cures cataracts.
4. Monos (monkeys), though cool, are now a big problem in Manuel Antonio. They only have so much room to move, and due to humans feeding them, they are inbreeding and multiplying at too fast a rate to sustain.
5. Nightshade grows here – don’t eat it.
6. Here’s something for all you Arkansans: Feeding sugar water to hummingbirds speeds up their hearts and shortens their lives by a year.
7. Night bugs have big antennas in order to sense bats. How cool is that?!
8. Have I told you guys about the strangler fig? Yes? Well shucks. I sure love them.

Toward the end of the tour a light sprinkle began to descend. We joke with David that we are happy to see the rain – it is the first we have encountered. We laugh – it is finally a rainy rainforest! Hahaha. How naive we are. We decide to take the shortcut back so we can get lunch before our afternoon activity. Thank goodness we did. About five minutes down the shortcut my umbrella turns into a Chihuahua facing a Doberman. This rain turns cold and evil and soon the only things keeping me from falling face down in the mud are my boots. Thanks God for las botas.

By the time we make it back, I am soaked through. Completely. And the ride back is similarily miserable; the driver is hot I suppose – he has the windows down. Bastard.

We make to las Cabinas and I change into clean clothes, except that the only I have are shorts and a tank top. I’m pretty cold. I hang my clothes over the rail and pray that they dry before the afternoon. Las Cabinas has free internet, so I run to check my e-mail, and find, to my utter dismay that a little girl from work has died. She was sick before I left, but hearing it is still incredibly sad.

I talk to Beth for a bit about the situation and then return to my room to warm up. Alicia is in bed reading, so I join her, pulling the warm blankets high up around me. I am so excited about getting to read (I am taking a break from journaling... which is why this is so late), but just as I pick up my book, the girls come get us for lunch. Bah.

We walk next door to Mamá Tica’s, and I order gallo pinto con huevo. It is pretty much amazing. After lunch, we walk to town to look around, and Hannah and I check out the magnet situation. We are indecisive and decide to wait until later that night. Instead we go to the bus station and get our tickets for the morning. The plan is to go back early so we can hang out for Beth’s birthday tomorrow!

The bus for Aventura meets us at 2:30 to take us to the ropes course. My pants are dry for the journey, but I have to borrow a jacket from Jackie. On the shuttle over we meet some guys who are teaching English in the city. Ting quickly befriends us and becomes our comic relief for the trip. And then, there we are.

I love zipping. We gear up (though I feel a little foolish in my gouchos and pink tennis shoes – I sure look like I never do anything outdoorsy), and I can feel my excitement rising. And nervousness. We get up to the first cable and I feel it rising... that familiar fear at being off the ground – can I do this? But there is no time to think. I just do it. They strap me in; I pick up my feet, and suddenly I am at the other side. Oh my. How glorious. I think I might try it again.... The third cable is stunning, zooming past the canopy and enlisting all the beauty of nature. Soon we are ushered to a high platform and told to jump. Okay, not really, but it does feel a bit like that. We are strapped to a rope and told to pick up our knees. Then they push... and just like that, you are Tarzan. I see Hannah do it, and my stomach is in my throat. Okay, I like zipping, but they are asking me to jump off the freakin’ platform. No! But I have to – it is important to me. So I get up there and don’t show my fear. And then, right before he tells me to pick my knees up, I am calm. Dead calm. And I enjoy the hell out of that fall. (Oh, there was a repel as well, where we were basically dropped twenty feet and stopped right before we hit the ground. It was fun too.) I can’t wait to do it again...

After the swing, one of the zipping guides asks me how I am. “Great!” I reply. “Then head up that trail to the best part!” he exclaims. But wait? I thought he said before that the sorpresa (swing) was the best part? But I follow the trail, the long trail, up to where Hannah waits. This cable really is the best. It takes us from one mountain to another, cutting across a huge valley, lush and fertile. I am breathless. Then I do it again!

I am in love, thinking that nothing could be better, when we are told to hike up to the last cable. And what a hike. I am completely wasted by the time I get up there and am grateful for the backup so I can sit and recover. They are running a bit behind, so they tell us to pair up. Hannah and I grab each other and clamber up to the platform. They strap me in and tell Hannah to wrap her legs around my waist from the back – we’re doing this thing together. She is the brakes; I’m just along for the ride. This cable is not the longest, but I think it is my favorite. It is a bit slower, and Hannah and I take the extra time to completely absorb the view. I am suspended high above a flourishing valley, and I can think of nothing I would rather be doing. I only wish I never had to make it to the other side.

But make it we do, and I turn to wait for Beth, who I am afraid has not enjoyed this trip quite as much I as I have. But I do hope she has had some fun. We give back our gear back at the station and climb back into the van. I am alive with energy and suddenly very excited for next weekend.

We decide to walk into town (and town is such an overstatement for this small assortment of buildings) for dinner, but due to dinero constraints cannot find a place in our budget. So back to Mamá Tica’s we go! And I am so glad we do. I have panqueques with bananos inside. Oh my. They are heaven. Such heaven. I get a mango juice in agua as well, but I’d rather not remember that.

Back at the room, I claim my now dry clothes (except for my jacket) and get ready for bed. Alicia and I are sitting up talking when Hannah and Beth burst in with the cheese and crackers and caramel we bought the previous day. So we have ourselves a little sleepover party... minus the sleep. When all the cheese is gone, Hannah and Beth head off to bed, and Alicia and I do the same... except instead of sleeping, we talk for another hour. Yay for new friends. Night!