Tuesday

We just arrived back at the hotel about 7:00pm so I am finally updating our blog. Our day started off very early. We at breakfast at 6:30am so we could get on the road at 7:30am. We headed north for about two hours to see a waterfall and go on a boatride.

Our first stop was at Santiago's bakery where we will be baking LOTS of cookies tomorrow. It was very interesting to watch how they cut and baked the cookies and rolled the dough for various breads and pastries. We got lots of samples and bought lots of snacks for the road. When we got on the bus, we passed around different kinds to share!

It was raining most of the morning, but a very light mist. As we headed up the mountain, it was very obvious we were in a rainforest. Ferns, tall trees, coffee plantations on the side of the mountains, and beautiful flowers were everywhere. Our first stop was at a fruit stand where some of us bought snacks, souvenirs and drinks. We made it to the waterfall which was very beautiful. We were able to walk on the side of the cliff to get behind the waterfall. With all the mist and rain, we definitely got a little wet!

We continued on the very curvy road and stopped to see another one. At one of our stops, we saw a monkey up in the tree and Carla made monkey noises at it. Next we went on a boat ride down the Sarapiqui River and saw a crocodile, two Caymans, lots of birds, Jesus Christ lizards (a lizard that walks on water), iguanas, lots of monkeys, long-nosed bats and a poisonous tree frog. Beth did jump out of the boat to chase a Jesus lizard but scared it off in the wrong direction. This was Faith's (Carlos and Karla's baby) first time on a boat and she had a great time!

After our boat ride, we headed down the mountain and stopped at the El Yugo truck stop and had dinner. We stopped at Moravia to do some "touristy" shopping and then headed to the "hippy" market to finish our shopping!

Now we are back at the hotel for an hour and we are getting ready to head to Callo Blancos (Carlos' church) to eat dinner.