The Holiday, Part 2

I was finally able to get some pictures to upload. What a process. Anyways, we stopped in Limon at this hotel restaurant for lunch. Here is the view from our table. It was wonderful to sit out under the leaf/grass roof on the balcony and see the ocean below you. And about ten steps away was a beautiful white sand beach.

We arrived at Sara and Chris's place in the afternoon and decided to go for a swim in the river on their farm. The water was cool/warm and refreshing. It started to pour rain while we were swimming, but it was a warm rain.

We visited this little bar that's right on the ocean. These people run the bar from their home and just casually open for anyone who shows up. It was an awesome way to spend a relaxing evening. Here are some pictures of the place.

This little guy lived in the ceiling. The crab was caught by the guy fishing.

Ahhh, this is the life. Bliss. Peace. Heaven.

The following day we took a hike through the rain forest that is Chris and Sara's land. They are in the lumber business and own lots of jungle. Here is some of what we saw.

Oops, that was a tiny lie. When I say 'hike' I mean Sara and I rode the horses while the guys hoofed it on foot.

This is the Lookout and the view from up there.

These are pictures of a frog mid-jump and finally, after many attempts, holding still.

This red frog is poisonous.

Yup, that's right. Spiders. The one on top is called something like 'Golden Web Spider' because its web has a gold shine instead of silver. The one on the bottom is just another spider. And that's Chris's arm that it's on. It actually crawled all the way up to his neck. *shudder*

Sara and I are standing on a vine that wraps around a massive tree. We climbed up on the vine because, well, it's just awesome. The thing is HUGE! Okay, honestly? I wanted to feel like Tarzan from the Disney movie...without the loin cloth of course.

This is a hollow tree. From the front it looks completely normal, but from behind you can see it's completely hollowed out, right up to the top and right down into the ground. And those black dots you see on the inside are bats. Bats! I'd like to say I took the picture myself, but the truth is I wouldn't get close enough. I had no desire to fall down that hole and have my own "Batman Begins" experience, thank you very much.

And finally, we came to a stream where we tied up the horses. We followed its winding path which led us to this oasis. It's a tiny waterfall and swimming hole. The day had been HOT and it was so refreshing to jump in. Okay, ease in is more accurate. The water was cool at first, but perfect once the heat of the day was washed away.

I have so much more to share - swimming in the ocean, beautiful beaches, monkeys, volcanoes, the resort - but I think this is enough for one post. Blogger is still being difficult and it has taken me hours to get these photos up. And I'm beginning to feel like one of those people who pulls out all their pictures and then proceeds to bore you with the details. So I'm gonna take this in steps; a little today, a little tomorrow.

One other thing. We ate at some of the coolest little restaurants and I got to try some great new food. But I have no pictures of that. When I asked the others if they would care if I took pictures of my food, I was met with strange looks all around. My husband stared at me like he couldn't believe what he just heard and I began to feel like some of the native wildlife being gawked at.

But enough for now. Until next time!