July+3,+2011

July 3, 2011 Today a few of us got up early to go bird watching around our cabins. It turns out the Mario knows a lot about the CR birds because he has run some tours with the Audubon society. We reluctantly left the forest to get the kids up (at 630 AM) to eat breakfast and then once again crawl on the bus to travel higher into the mountains to go to one of the local zipline companies.

There are three rules with zip lining: 1. Always keep your braking hand (in a glove) behind the pulleys 2. Don’t try to land with your feet 3. Never adjust your own equipment - let the guides do it.

Nothing could have prepared us for zip lining. How do you describe it? Everyone had a harness on that supported their legs and waist so you could “sit” while attached to the line. We climbed up stairs to the first perch, we were attached, taught how to brake and keep ourselves stable and set down the line. The first few lines where only a few meters long to get us used to the process. At one point we were paired up to go in tandem. And then we came to the long one - almost 1 km long that sent us way out over the valley between two hills. It was amazing and terrifying and thrilling. Sometimes we were in the clouds, but mostly the weather was very good and we got to see an panoramic view of the area. We could even see all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

After zip lining, we drove to a remote elementary one-room school house where a few students and parents greeted us. There, the elementary children danced some traditional CR dances for us. Then some of the local high schoolers did some more modern dances for us. At the end, anyone that wanted to join in could try dancing. It was some much fun and the students really enjoyed the day. They had a snack for us, they played some futbol, and before we left, our group was permitted to give a donation to the school (if they wanted.) It was a great experience for our group.

We ended our last day in Monteverde with one last visit to the shopping area. Many of the group enjoyed the icecream or the café (coffee). Tomorrow is a very early day. We leave at 630 for our crocodile river tour.