Costa Rica, Day 3 (March 24, Tuesday)

The "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" flower is so named because is blooms peculiarly all year long. On the first day it is bright purple, the second day of blooming it is light purple , and on the last day it turns white and then falls off. This is the lunch that we were served as part of the package deal. It is called a constada and it means a dish of small servings. Most of the ones served at a hotel also have a serving of meat on the side: beef, chicken, or fish. It is served with beans, rice, a cilantro, cucumber, cabbage salad with lime juice dressing, and saffron rice. (Often the rice and beans are cooked together and called Gallo Pinto--Pronounced Guy-o Pinto). It also came with a Tamarind fruit nectar drink and a fried flat tortilla bread. Thicker than typical corn tortias here. After visiting the banyos (toilets) we loaded up into Jeeps to go up the canyon. The jeep behind us. Picture of the "cloudless" volcano from the back of a jeep on the way up the canyon to rappel. This is the Julie"before" picture. I am wearing this very sterile (not!) blue shirt that was pulled off a previous victim and stuffed wet into a knap sack. Later, I was grateful to have the shirt over my swim suit because it was very cold in the crevices and waterfalls where we stood and waited for the others to rappel down to us. I am modeling the helmet, and harness (which was oh so comfomy to hike out while wet of the rainforest.) This is Joe waiting on the first ramp to rappel. The young guide demonstrated how we were to stand in a squatting position on the board just behind Joe. We could not see the 180 foot double rappell we would be doing down the side of a gorgeous waterfall. Some tension was mounting. I had not done anything like this before! The red bag was waterproof for our camera. First and only double rappel line. Looking up from where we had just come from. Today we went Rappelling down waterfalls in the wet rainforest. We were served lunch first. This is pretty typical of the food eatten here called a Constada: Meaning a variety of little dishes composed of rice and beans, salad, and fried flat bread/tortilla and some Tamarind juice. Next we rode jeeps to the canyon and were given harnesses to put on. (And "pretty" blue jackets if "you have a tendency to get cold." Some in our group were worried about sanitation of the jackets. Since we rappelled down and in some of the falls and stood in water waiting for others, I was so grateful to have one of these jackets. It is moist and cold down in these canyons.