Today was definitely in my top favorite three days of the three days we've been traveling. Spontaneously ditching the initial plan to take a 5 a.m. stroll along the beach (there's something just not very inviting about being poked awake by my dad), I leisurely woke up to the sound of a duck quacking around 6 a.m. Relatively excited, I tried to identify the location of the duck. It sounded so close! My dad heard the noise also, as it was fairly loud, but we were not able to locate any ducks. Eventually we realized that, for some unknown reason, my dad's iPod was making duck noises. We discovered that, when my dad set his alarm, the sound setting was on "Duck." We are the ultimate gringos.
At lunch my parents and I tried a local fruit, which had a sweet-and-sour taste to it. Even though they can easily be found anywhere in Costa Rica, I think that eating this particular fruit will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me.
(Above: ???)
We ate a "tranquila" (very relaxed) breakfast, and headed out to our first event of the day: a boat sight-seeing trip! The plan was to take a topless boat, so that both sides of passengers could spot the wildlife when something came into view. The onset of pouring rain approximately two minutes before we were supposed to leave caused everyone to think there would be a delay in the plans. Willace, however, thought otherwise.
We were given ponchos, and set off on the tour! Through the Costa Rican rain storm we boated, in our topless boat nonetheless. This would have been extremely fun with my fellow 20-something-year-old classmates, however with my boat consisting mainly of elderly men and women, the rain became more of an inconvenience rather than an added bonus. I tried to yell "Pura Vida!" a few times to enhance the experience, but myself, my parents, and our guide seemed to be the only ones who appreciated the encouraging words.
Because of the storm, I didn't bring my camera and didn't get any pictures on the boat ride, but there were plenty of plants and animals for us to gawk at around the hotel.
(Above: Tucan)
(Above: a gnarly ant-creature carrying a crumb)
(Above: lizard)
After lunch we had another boat tour-- in the pouring rain, as per standard. This time we took a different route, which was full of monkeys! Los monos cara blanca, or white-face monkeys (which my dad fondly nicknamed "gringo-monkeys," and was actually able to crack a smile on our stoic guide with that one), spider monkeys, and howler monkeys. My favorite were the white-faced monkeys because I could relate to them. Maybe one day evolution will do us both a favor and allow our ancestors to be "tan-faced."
We then reached the end of our trip, soaking wet. I kept up a steady stream of "Pura vida!" yells to try to brighten the mood, but no amount of joking could lift my mom's spirit. Out of all the wildlife, the reason I wish most that I had a camera would have been to snap a picture of the pure misery on her face during the boat ride as she was trying to take cover during the both horizontal and vertical rainstorm. While most people were making attempts to cover their electronics, sunglasses, and binoculars, she was all-hands-on-deck trying to prevent her hair from becoming messed up with the protection of the poncho provided by the Tortuguera tour group.
All in all, what a great day! I'm feeling nostalgic that today is our last day in Torruguera, but I'm greatly looking forward to what the rest of the tour has in store for us. !Pura vida!
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