White water and more...

So this week I went white water rafting and zip-lining through the rain forest.......no big deal. But seriously, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had the opportunity to participate in. The jungle is primary forest, which means it has never been touched by humans before. Needless to say, it was BEAUTIFUL. And it's not like a dinky little forest that they are protecting for the heck of it, it is MILES long. Something like 30% of Costa Rica is made up of protected forests. We have seen so many cool animals. I will post their pictures below...

White water rafting was intense! The class fours were so rough that the guide actually made us get down into the boat at some points. When the water was calm, we were able to get out of the raft and swim. At one point we swam in-between two mountains, like a canyon that the river extended through. The vegetation extended very far over the river, and on both your sides there are huge rocks. Outstanding. I fell out of the boat at one point and into the rapids. It was rather painful.....but it happened to most people. They also had kayakers in the rapids which looked like a ton of fun. The guides actually pulled and pushed people out of the boats at some points....would be very funny if you weren't able to hear intense rapids up ahead....lol.

Zip-lining was an experience too. You are literally extended some 100 feet into the air and are wipped through the rain forest. You can see so much! However, I have yet to see a flippin' monkey! At the end of the zip lines there is a jump called the tarzan swing which requires you to walk to the middle of a swinging bridge and then jump off. For three or four seconds you are simply in a free fall which feels soooo weird but then you are saved by the harness and swing back and forth. Scary as hell, to put it nicely.

I have seen a lot of cool insects lately. Giant caterpillars and stick bugs are a normal occurance here and giant moths/butterflies are seen regularly. I even caught a land crab! That impressed my group. I am always the one to spot the animals before anyone else, and I have gained some recognition for that.

Next weekend we should see monkeys because they are very common at the beach. They even take your things and bight you! Can't wait.

I will explain some more tommorow, and below are pics. I can only upload two for now because I did this post in the morning and I have to go to school right now. I will upload more pics tonight.

You can see me on the right, in the
front!

There I am again, at the same place.