Flying through the rain forest held only by a harness and some cables could be quite exhilarating. There’s nothing to compare with the experience of today as I, along with 12 others, zipped along through the rain forest canopy. The highlight was the one over the Rio Sarapiqui going very fast. I joked with the tour guide about just cutting my rope and dropping into the river, and surprisingly he offered his knife and said he would just say something happened to the harness. Of course we all knew he was joking back. The tours were provided by Expediciones Tropicale, a local tour company.
The disappointment of the day was when they announced we wouldn’t be able to do the rafting because the river was swollen with rainwater of recent days and the debris was too much. However, what everyone believed was going to be a boring 2-hour drive back to San Jose turned into an adventure. There was a mudslide on the ride blocking it from both directions so our driver had to turn around and find a different route. We, well I did, talked the driver into stopping for cervesa (beer) along the way. Thus the four and a half hour drive back to San Jose was quite fun. Most of the men on the bus were from New York and were here for a bachelor’s party, thus I provided several beers for the bachelor. They were all of Indian (the country) descent. The other gentlemen were older and here studying Spanish with one of the home stay programs, and then there is the handsome Alex from Italy. He and I went today together. He’s straight but good company. He speaks very good Spanish, German, Italian, and English.
The drive back to San Jose provided some breath taking views of several volcanoes, waterfalls, and mountainsides, and then there was the “Dios Mio!” (Oh God!) bridge. The bridge had no railings, the land dropped several hundred feet on either side, and only allowed one vehicle at a time to cross, and thus you can picture why everyone was saying “Dios Mio!” We safely returned to San Jose to find my room full of people, a nice change from the empty space of the last few days. Two of the men are from the States, one from Germany, and one from the U.K. They were all drinking beer and eating some of the local bread bought from a nearby market.
One of the new guys in my room just asked me if I wanted to join him and his two girls for a night out. I had to respectfully decline, laughing most of the time as he was telling me about the girls. I’m still laughing. I informed the bachelor party about El Pueblo and they and Alex will be going there tonight. They asked if I was going and I said I had a previous engagement to see a Drag Show. They all laughed. Then the bus driver informed what the Spanish word for gay is, “prajador.” The word means bird and is the term used here for gay. We all had many laughs on the bus ride back to San Jose, which made the hours pass quickly. Of course with all of the beer there were many required pit stops along the way, including two along the side of the road.
We’re supposed to contact the tour agency on Monday to arrange for a refund of our rafting aspect today, however, I’m going to try to talk them into allowing me to go another day next week. But for now, it’s time to drink with all of the boys, enjoy dinner, take a shower, and head out for a night on the town. That is if I can stay awake that long.
