Day 199 / 365 - Costa Rica Day Five

Okay, okay picture overload on this one. I have so many from this day that I really just could not decide which ones. This day was pure adventure and full of different emotions. We walked into the Ricon de la Vieja Volcano national park and didn't really know what to expect. We hiked down a creek to a small volcanic hot springs area and we painted each other with volcanic mud and dipped in the freezing cold creek and ended in natural sulfur hot springs that had temperatures around 107 degrees. holy hot tub. We then decided to forgo the zip lining and the super "adventure" tours and do our own hiking into the rain-forest up near the volcano's peak. We started walking our trail and those of you that know me know what my face looked liked as I met the trees in this forest. They were amazing. A tree-huggers paradise.

We then heard a rumbling off in the distance and thought it was the distant sounds of the volcano, since it is active right now. We turned the corner to a waterfall and were met with the loudest animal growl/rumble we have ever heard. It made your insides shake and your eyes widen as big as possible. To call a couple of my loving sisters out - Christy started crying she was so scared and Amy turned to run the opposite direction. I just stood in amazement and Jarin and I tried to figure out what was making that sound. The canopy just opened up with howls from what I then figured were monkeys. We then spotted monkeys that were swinging from the rain forest canopy and in the same instant we figured out it was not volcanic rumbling it was a thunderstorm and we were about to be caught in torrential downpour. So there we were in the middle of a rain forest, with what we found out later were Howler Monkeys (please YouTube these creatures) around us screaming at us and rain so hard it was hard to see or walk up these unsteady trails. I stopped to take it all in. It was perfect, there is really nothing better than being on a hike in the wilderness and being reminded that you are so small and are not in your world anymore... you are just a visitor.

So as we all ended the day at the top of the gorgeous mountain looking at the steam pockets and the mud pots and were giggling about everyone's reactions to the day's events I realized that this day will be one of my favorites in life I am sure.