Rincan de la Vieja

Wow!

Today was a fun filled day. It is 9:30 p.m. Costa Rican time and I am beat. We woke up an hour earlier than we usually do and drove 2 hours away to Rincan de la Vieja for a day of swinging through trees, riding rapids, riding donkeys, and swimming in mud baths. Ok, so I skipped the mud and watch the others because I already feel dirty enough already but the other stuff was fun!

At first, I was really nervous about being so high in the trees but I just let go and did it. It was so beautiful and quite a rush! However, as soon as I got used to the zip line the people guiding the canopy tour hooked us to a line and dropped us upside down about 25 feet from a platform. If you don't understand what I mean I am saying I was hanging upside down (as in, inverted) and was quickly lowered to the scary depths below me. Yes, I screamed and then the tour guide screamed in my face to mock me when I landed on solid ground (thank you lord!). Next, we scaled the side of the a canyon and zipped over to the next platform. We were with 2 families with very young children (10 and younger). This was the point when all of the little ones were petrified and in tears. I felt so awful for them. 

Next, we ate lunch. Lunch in Costa Rica is the biggest meal of the day. In my world it is the smallest meal of the day so I can never eat that much, but I ate a plate full of spaghetti. Yes, there is a lot of italian food here. Surprisingly, there are many Italians in Costa Rica. Everyone ate quickly so we could keep moving because there was lots to do!

After lunch, we changed into our swimsuits and headed for the rapids. I expected the river to be calm much like the James or Potomac but smaller. I thought it would be a casual day of winding down the river while taking in the beautiful scenery all around us. I was wrong. We were giving a life jacket, an inner tube, and a helmet. There were 14 rapids and the got rougher as we moved down the river. Many people got tossed and lost their inner tubes. I think even Alysia went over once or twice. I managed to stay up, but there were a few very close calls and scary moments. The rapids were by far my favorite part of the day. I don't think there is anything like it in the States. At the end of the river we hiked back to the bus (they brought us to and from the river in a yellow school bus). On the trail back to the bus there was a very small, but very deadly snake in the middle of the path. I immediately thought of my sister, Leigh, who is petrified of snakes and was glad she wasn't there because she would have completely freaked out. I quickly walked around it hoping not to provoke it in any way. 

After the rapids we were taken to the horses. I thought they looked more like donkeys or mules. They were very small horses (no, they weren't mini horses) but they looked funny. We took the horses on a very bumpy and muddy road to a beautiful waterfall where a few of the people in my group jumped from a cliff into another part of the river. I'm not big on falling from a high place so I stayed off to the side and watched with my camera in hand. We weren't there for very long because everyone wanted to keep moving so we didn't miss anything. Once we got back on the horses all of our horses started to pee. I don't think I've ever seen a horse pee before. It was ridiculous!

After our butts were completely sore from the saddles they took us off to the last stop of the day - the mud baths. I am not into getting dirty for fun, so I watched. Sure, a mud bath at a really nice spa would be fun and therapeutic, but this didn't look the same to me. Instead it looked like a bubbling vat of mirky water. It was fun to watch everyone get dirty and, again, I took lots of pictures.

All in all it was a terrific day and a great experience. The highlight was definitely the tubing. Although, the zip lining was a close second. I've uploaded all of the pictures from our trip on Picasa so go check out the link from my previous posts. For those of you interested in seeing the video of me falling - send me a post and I'll e-mail you the video.

Tomorrow we are off to Playa Conchal. It's a beautiful beach not far from here with crystal clear water and white sand. I'll take more pictures and update you on that tomorrow. For now, take care and buenos noches!

xoxoxo

Annie