Sunday

So today we finally made it down to the river. It was absolutely amazing and tons of fun. It hasnt rained here all day which is really strange, but it also provided us with the perfect oportunity to explore the river and jump off of waterfalls, and all kinds of fun stuff. Around 1 Luke and Fresno stopped by and said that they had been trying to get ahold of me, but again I was locked out of the house and couldnt answer the phone, I could just hear it ringing. Anyway, we walked down to the park (which is also the city center, and the taxi hub), met up with Kirstin and we jumped in a cab and rode down to the river. The ride took less then 2 minutes in a taxi and cost 600 colones, which is roughly a dollar. The part of the river that we went to is really popular with the local people as it is the only free spot deep enough to jump into and swim around in in the vacinity. There is a huge waterfall about 5 kilometers up river that also has a pool deep enough to swim in, but admission costs ten dollars, which is a fee no Tico in their right mind would pay.

The spot that we ended up at was pretty crowded when we showed up, but you could find enough room to do whatever you wanted. The view was absolutely amazing, like something you would see in a guide book, or horror movie about tourists being in Centarl America or something. The river is clear along the shallow part which runs under the road and then it turns into a light green as it passes over the falls before turning into a deep opaque blue as it enters the pool below (the kind of color rich people go to saint barts to see water be). The pool is probably 20 feet deep, about 100 feet in diameter, and ringed by rocks perfect for jumping off of (most about 12 feet above the water). At the highest point along the edge of the pool is a rope swing that lets you get about 20 feet above the water if you really go for it.

When we first got there Kirstin and I decided that we had to go off the swing, well she decided and then made me go first. I was a little trepidatious at first, but when youre options are, let go of the rope and fall into the water, or swing back and smack into a bunch of rocks its pretty easy to let go. So after the first time I was addicted and continued to dive/swing/jump into the pool for the next 2 hours or so with Luke and Kirstin doing the same. Fresno didnt go in, but he was watching our stuff, so Im thinking if he would have swam we wouldnt have had clothes when we decided to leave. After we had our fill of jumping we lounged around on the rocks above the pool and just watched the river disapear around a bend into the rain forest. I cant tell you how beautiful it is there, and I will definitely be taking lots of pictures there, Ill take any excuse I can to go back. I guess its rare to be able to be there for an extended period of time though like we were today becuase when it rains the rocks become extremely dangerous to walk around on, which is not a theory im too keen on testing.

After awhile we decided to leave, but couldnt get a taxi to stop for us so we walked the whole way back which only took about 15 minutes, but my knee seems to think I ran a marathon or something. But thats a small price to pay for how amazing today turned out. Pura Vida