Monday 26 October

Toady I woke up at 5am to go the forestal. When I got there, I bought a Lima for sharpening my machete and then told my co-workers that I couldn’t work today of the next day. I then went home and got packed for the trip to La Paz. Around 7am my mother pulled up with a driver and we headed to La Paz to see the waterfall gardens. Out drivers name was Victor and he was funny and a very nice guy. As we drove, Victor told us that there had been a huge earthquake that had hit La Paz in January and the place was still recovering from it. When we reached La Paz, you could tell that something big had gone through this beautiful place and left it in disarray. The roads were all new and there were roads that were still being worked on because the earthquake taken out almost all of the roads. It was sad to see that about 80% of all the restaurants and other businesses were gone and it was almost a ghost town. When we arrived at the Waterfall gardens, I was amazed to see how beautiful the place was. The front building was located on the hill, overlooking the whole place. It reminded me of Jurassic Park because everything was green it was a park of wild animals. There were huge buildings for the bird garden, butterfly garden, and the other exhibits. We first went through the bird exhibit and saw really cool exotic parrots and toucans. Also there was an owl that flew right into the glass when we woke up. Something must have scared him but he then got trapped in a hole in the ground and one of the staff had to help him back to his perch. We found out that the owl couldn’t see in the day time so that’s why he was having such a hard time. After that, we went to the butterfly garden. There were butterflies everywhere and all of them were different colors and it was really cool to see. We saw a butterfly coming out of its cocoon which was really cool to watch. Next was the monkey exhibit which had all the different types of monkeys from Costa Rica. I never knew how important there tail was until I saw these monkeys. Their tails were like their fifth leg and they used it for everything. After the monkeys, we went through the frog exhibit and then to the water fall. As we walked down the long path way to the waterfall, it started to rain. This was nice because it made the air foggy and showed you that you where in the middle of a cloud forest. When we reached the Waterfalls, I was in awe. They were so tall and magnificent looking. The views were great and I got some good pictures. After the waterfall Victor showed us a model Costa Rican farm house that was up for display and explained the different tools that the farmers used to use. Also the staff in the house gave use samples of sweet bread and a drink made up or sugarcane juice and milk. It was good and warmed me up after being cold from the rain. We then headed up to the cat exhibit which I was very much impressed with. The displays were wonderful the habitats for the cats were dead on and the cats seemed happy. Also the design of theses habitats made so you could go right up to the cats and take great pictures through the glass. Only of the displays let you walk underneath were some mountain lions were sleeping right above. I got some cool shots and was very happy with the turn out. Last we went to the snake exhibit which I like but not really because I don’t like snakes very much. We then went to the restaurant at the place which had an awesome buffet full of delicious food. After lunch I sat by a fire and talked with another tourist from FL. We then went to look at the Orchid exhibit which was disappointing because none of the flowers were in bloom, and then to the humming bird garden which was nice. It was cool how close you could get to the humming bird to see how fast their wings were going. After the waterfall gardens, we headed for the Poás volcano. When we got there, it was too rainy for us to see anything, so we decided to head for Son José.

We arrived in Chepe (San José) around 5pm and got situated in our hotel room. We then went out to dinner at a restaurant called El Patio which was really nice. I had a supreme pizza and my mom had a salad. After dinner we went back and got some rest.