Day 9: Veragua Rainforest

Day 9: Veragua Rainforest

Buenos Dias! We began our day with the pleasure of having our second "late" breakfast (9AM). We are headed to the Veragua Rainforest for a full day of learning and fun activities.

We piled onto the bus and got comfy in our seats. Normally, some of us like to take naps on long bus rides, but today was much different. Adrian and Gabriel asked if we would like some musica, which all of us quickly replied with a loud "SI!". Adrian mentioned that he had some songs up his sleeve that we would love, and to our surprise, we were all singing and dancing in our seats within seconds. First the YMCA (we loved watching Sierra do the entire dance, unlike the rest of us only spelling the letters..Abby spelling it backwards), then the Macarana (a goodie, but it gets old fast), and he also mixed in some Spice Girls and old Ricky Martin that had our wheels turning double time to remember all of the lyrics. We have decided that if being a guide ever bores Adrian, he has a promising career as a DJ.

As our bus rolled to a stop so did our singing as we were greeted with the flashy smile of our Veragua Rainforest guide, Marco. We stuck our hands out and got the first of our many wristbands slapped on. Then we were given a short time to put our bags in our dorm room style bedrooms and got ready to have lunch. We met up right outside of our new dorms and headed toward the rainforest cafeteria where we formed a buffet style line and fueled up for the rest of our day of jam packed activities.

We allowed ourselves a few minutes to digest our delicious food before climbing on the tram that took us to another section of the rainforest. The view was absolutely breathtaking as we slowing coasted from the canopy level down to the forest floor. Marco helped us climb out of our tiny boxcar tram and we started our hike towards the waterfall. The hike wasn't long but there were many steps to climb up and down which quickly caused us to drip in sweat. On the way, we learned about a gigantic buttress that has huge roots growing above the soil, and we also spotted a few red, poisonous, but very tiny, frogs. Once we arrived at the waterfall we were were all in awe and took many individual and group pictures before heading off in the other direction. Marco showed us many more plants, animals, and insects during our walk. There is always a time for learning a moment on this trip.

After our walk through the rainforest, Marco guided us through three different exhibits: reptiles, amphibians, and butterflies. The reptile exhibit consisted of medium sized cages that could be found at the zoo. They contained different lizards or snakes not only local to Costa Rica, but also currently living in the Veragua rainforest. He then talked about their habitats, diet, sleeping patterns, and size. Next was the amphibian exhibit. Most frogs and toads are nocturnal therefore, the exhibit turns the lights off during the day and turns them on at night in order to show the frog's activity to visitors. The second room of the frog exhibit was replicated to look like their natural habitat. This area contained three poisonous frogs species but we only spotted two: the green and black poison dart frog, and the strawberry poison dart frog (We could not find the tiger stripped species..it was hiding).

Last, but definitely not least, we visited the butterfly garden. It was magical. There were many species of butterflies all living in the same natural-looking habitat. We were even able to meet a few experts (Andres and Julio). They taught us about butterflies, the different stages of their life cycles, and the farm which they purchase the chrysalis. After learning about them we received the opportunity to release the newly hatched butterflies. As we held these new creature in our hands we walked back into the garden and threw them into the air. As their wings spread wide, showing their beautiful colors, we stood under them in awe of their majestic beauty.

Before dinner, we had three minutes to freshen up and grab anything we needed for our night walk. Once again we waited in line for our delicious dinner. Our plates full of rice, beef, and salad were quickly licked clean. Dinner was over in a blink of an eye, so we grabbed our rain gear and cameras, and huddled behind Andres to be protected from what came next. Any girl could agree that a night time insect walk does not sound like a good time, but we pumped ourselves up, and headed into the darkness. Our guides were fascinated every time we found an insect or a snake, which made it easier for us to enjoy the walk as well. Although the walk was interesting at first, it quickly turned for the worse. We quickly realized we were standing on top of an ant hill and we were not invited. As the expression "ants in your pants" became a reality (as well as shoes, shirts, and unmentionables). Our emotions and moods instantly went south as everyone began doing a new version of harlem shake as we tried our best to remove these critters. Things got so bad for some people that they made a b-line for the bathroom, ripping off their clothes in an attempt to stop the biting. Once everyone was free the morale was significantly lower and everyone just wanted to get into the showers. However we tried to stick through the bites and stings and listened the last few pieces of information about the trapping lights used to attract the bugs. Mo even spotted the black and white owl, which she hadn't ever seen before (we named him Dumbledore) so the night didn't totally "bite".

Now were off to the showers, and bed. We wish we could spend more time here, but we have another full day ahead of us tomorrow.

Love from all in Costa Rica!

Pura Vida!