May 24:  Monteverde


Up at 7am.  Yes, massively hung over.

We (all except Rian) left the hotel at 7:30am for a bird walk.  The walk went 8am-11am.  And yes, we saw it.  The Resplendent Quetzal.  It flew away before I could get a pic though. 

During the walk, Sarah found the discarded trunk of an elephant (which I don't think is indigenous to Costa Rica, so this was somewhat puzzling) and used it as either a musical instrument or a prosthetic trunk of her own.  I also found this unusual because most LA girls look like elephants without having to resort to props.

Afterwards, the Desafio van took us back into downtown Santa Elena, where a bunch of us went to the same hole-in-the -wall as yesterday.  I had a pork quesadilla, only because I said "pollo" and the woman thought I said "pork".  Rian joined us in town, Fabi left, and the Canadians ate elsewhere.

After lunch I stayed downtown with Sarah and shopped a bit.  Couldn't find a good sloth t-shirt.  We went to the Amigos bar where I had a Pilsen and Sarah had a Diet Coke that tasted weird.  We watched part of What Women Want (subtitled) and the beginning of Down To Earth (subtitled) on the bar TV.  After that we stopped by the Tree House Cafe and made a reservation for the group (for everyone except Fabi, who was taking tonight off).

On the way back to the hotel we encountered a woman who pointed out this sloth in the tree.  I can't see the face at all.  Just a big mass of fur.

I got back to my room around 2ish.  Wrote in my journal and napped from 2:30pm to 4:45pm.  Shaved and showered.

All of us except Fabi met at the Tree House for dinner at 6:45pm.  I had a burger, tequila sunrise (my last weak Costa Rican cocktail) and a Pilsen.

Sarah told me that earlier she'd laid down in the shower (they're big in these rooms) but then got worried about catching athlete's foot fungus in other areas, which I dubbed "athlete's vagina".

Fabi showed up during dinner but didn't join us.  She was hanging out with the other G.A.P people (Erik and Katie) because it was their last chance to do so before the tours diverged.  She said she'd be "downstairs", and we still don't know exactly what was down there or where she was.

After dinner the Dutch girls stayed to talk to the guitar player (though ultimately for only 15 minutes after the rest of us left).  Even in Costa Rica, musicians get more play than comedians.  I would have stayed out with them, but I didn't want to sloth-block.  On the way home we looked for booze and considered having a little party at one of the tables at the hotel, but everything was closed, on account of it was Sunday night.  So we retired at 9:30pm.  I was in bed at 10pm, but listened to my iPod as I waited for the PM pills to kick in.  They are useful on vacation, if I didn't make that clear before.


Back