Quetzal and queso

Today, we took a break from the coffee thing. Well, everything coffee related except the drinking part.

Out of our two-week "volunteer-ation," (our new volunteer+vacation term) we have one day to do something non work related. Which basically meant we got to sleep in (huge bonus, but something none of us were actually able to do... stupid internal clocks!)

Around 8 a.m., we set off from our "rustic" hotel - La Cascada - to see some cascadas for real at Quetzal National Park in the mountains.

Of course, as soon as we left San Marcos, the rain decided to pay us a visit in the form of an early morning downpour. We were not going to be dismayed.

We stopped around 10 a.m. for brunch at a buffet where I had an interesting sampling of rice, cheese tortilla, beef, and flan. Despite being a bit heavy for breakfast, the food was actually really good. I've learned that when you have the opportunity to eat, you eat as much as you can.

Once we arrived at Quetzal, the intensity of the rainfall motivated us to stall our plans to hike and instead sip cups of coffee at a wayside hotel.

Finally, we decided we didn't drive all the way for nothing, and continued toward the waterfall.

A short, relatively easy hike along the pristine Savegre river brought us to a 50-foot fall with a cave at it's base.

As usual, I made everyone wait in the shade of a rock while I experimented with various slow shutter speeds and a shaft of light. I think I made what I was looking for, happen. However, I do think waterfalls are overshot, which makes finding a different angle difficult.

We dodged raindrops on our way back as the showers decided to spare us no mercy. I wrapped my camera in my rain coat and plunged onward up the muddy horse trail. By the time we reached the cars, we all were drenched.

I've decided that Costa Rica is just a perpetual state of wetness. Sebas said the slogan for Tarrazu should be: The moist fun you'll ever have. I tend to agree.

After a two-hour ride to the hotel, I'm sitting here in my unmade bed enjoying the warmth of my covers and the sound of other guests talking outside my door.

I can't believe we've been here in Costa Rica for eight days. Its work, work, work from here on out. Tomorrow we've got to knock another two farms off our to-do list. On Sunday, we head home.

My unmade bed.
My luxurious bathroom - trust me on this one.
The common area of our hotel where we wait to be picked up each morning. That's Charlie, left, and Alex laughing about something.
We had to stop for gas today... it is basically the same price here as it is in the U.S. It cost $75 to fill the tank of our four-wheel drive.
My breakfast - I'm drinking my coffee black these days.
Quetzal... often referred to as the "Cloud Park" because the clouds meet the hills.
Log bridge, that's Debbie in the center.
Harmony is more flexible than I thought.



A real-life rain forest.