A Long Time

       Sorry for such the long wait! I really have been so busy with schoolwork that I decided to wait until I found extra time to make a post! Last week I went on a trip to Pacífico Central and stayed a night with my friends in a hotel that was way overpriced for its quality! So here is a summary of that trip and how I've been doing for the past couple weeks!

       We first went there with the ACM group and a couple of professors to go on a tour of a tropical forest and learn about the different types of animal ecosystems that exist there. It was very extensive (the tour guide was awesome) and I learned a lot. It was amazing to see a line of huge ants crawling along the pathway and carrying pieces of plants to make a home for the queen ant. It was cool and awesome to see such teamwork for such small creatures. Seriously, by glancing down at the floor, all you could see were the pieces of plants in a long line, that's how huge and strong the ants are. After that we went to a gorgeous beach nearby! It was only about twenty minutes away! The only negative thing was that the water was very cold, like the beaches in California (especially the one near my house)! But the beauty made up for it.

       There were so many palm trees, as you can see from my picture above. All of us loved climbing them. Although you can't see the ground in the picture above, the tree is pretty high up from it. It is mind-blowing now to think about how high up we really climbed on that tree. I do remember being scared though whenever someone would jump off the branch and the whole thing would shake for those of us still on it!! So if you look at how the branch curves upward in the picture, you can see the destination that I was aiming for as I bravely climbed the branch with my friends. Of course, I asked Joey ahead of time if it was okay if I fell, just to be sure! Well, he told me since it was sand that would break my fall, it wouldn't be that bad if I fell...so I listened to him and started climbing farther than any of my friends!!! I still remember feeling my heart pounding as I looked at that upward point as my goal destination. Of course being the ambitious and daring woman I am, I didn't just want to reach it just to reach it...I also wanted to stand up alongside it! Well, finally my friend Christina saw me climbing and yelled, "Crystal, you are so brave, I could never climb that far up!" I yelled back, "I'm going to try to stand up alongside it for a great picture." It wasn't until she said, "No Crystal don't do it, you don't realize how high up you are right now" that I actually looked down. Let's just say I decided to stop there and have a picture taken of me where I was! It was a looong way down, a lot more than I realized!

       And then we had a wonderful surprise when Joey mentioned that there was something cool to see at the other side of the beach! Now I'm not really that much of a fan of birds - but this sight truly was amazing. There were more than nine Scarlet Macaws all together in these tree branches and not more than ten feet in front of us (see picture above!). I can definitely think of someone who would have passed out if he had gotten the chance to see this (wink wink). We also could hear them eating the seeds and making bird sounds. Their colors were so bright and beautiful! These birds are one of the most endangered birds on our planet, and I can't believe I got the chance to be this close to them!

       The next day, I went on an awesome crocodile tour! We got to be so close the crocodile that you could touch them! I was going to and then take a picture, but the crocodile swam away before I could! The guide fed them by swatting a piece of squid I think on the water to get their attention and then led them up onto an island of sand while holding up the piece of meat in the air. Then the crocodile all of a sudden would jump up with it's jaws open and snatch the piece of meat from the guide's hand. :]

       This past Friday ACM took us to Heredia to see Chris's farm and see first-hand the preservation of water. We first went on a beautiful hike for about half an hour to see beautiful views of natural landscapes. I'm glad my friends brought their cameras because the views were breathtaking, like much of Costa Rica. I forgot my water bottle though, which I tend to do a lot recently. :( The path was very rocky, but all of us were wearing appropriate shoes so none of us fell, thank goodness! Afterwards, we saw how the family uses water preservation to grow bananas in a land that wasn't meant for them. There were so many mosquitoes though that I couldn't even focus on what the guide was saying because I was too busy swatting them off my body and those around me! Afterwards, we had a very lovely buffet on Chris's farm! So all in all, the trip was lovely, but I have very horrible mosquito bites to suffer from because of it! I really miss home and can't wait to see you guys again!!! Until then!