Costa Rica!! It really deserves to be bolded, italicized, capitalized, and in a different font, but I won’t go that far for this post. I loved it. Costa Rica was on my bucket list, and it is pretty fantastic to check it off the list after the memories and pictures I have of it. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Go to Costa Rica.
We went on a tour that took us to see a banana plantation, and also on a rain forrest canal tour. First I want to make very clear (because my husband always corrects me when I say canal) that in Costa Rica they call the natural river system through the rain forrest a canal system. In America canals are man made so I do not want you to think these rivers are man made. They are natural rivers flowing through the rain forrest. It was raining when we got to Costa Rica. I thought it was awesome that we were headed to the rain forrest and it was actually raining.
On our bus ride we passed a cemetery that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was all above ground. We also got to see a cashew fruit. I had no idea that cashew nuts came from a fruit. The top of the fruit where it is dark brown and looks like a nut is the outside of the cashew nut. You cannot eat the nut just like that, you have to roast it so that some kind of gas can be released and then you can eat the nut inside. You also cannot just take a bite of the raw fruit. It can only be eaten after it is cooked somehow. They told us about different things like cashew fruit jelly and cashew fruit pies that they make with the fruit because those things are cooked.
These are banana plants. I always thought bananas grew on trees, but they made sure we knew it was not a tree, it is a plant.
This is how the bananas were hanging at the plantation. This was right at the beginning of our tour. (Thanks to my husband for the awesome picture. We both had our cameras going and he is an excellent photographer.)
The bananas went through multiple processes before they were boxed and ready to ship.
At the end of our tour they had a couple of plants that showed how bananas look while they are growing. The picture below is one of those examples. They also allowed us to take some Dole Costa Rica stickers. The stickers rocked.
These are pictures of some of the plants that we saw just growing wild around the canal system. We had time to explore a little before we got on our boat. (A shout out to my talented husband and his photography skills. He took the flower and animal pictures you are about to see!!)
This is an iguana that our guide spotted from the boat. I circled its head because it gets lost in the green!
This is called a Jesus Christ Lizard. It is called that because its tail is so long, and it can move so fast, it seems to be able to run across the top of the water.
We got to see two and three toed sloths. I love this one because we actually got to see its face.
Do you see the black things on this tree? Those are a type of bat. It was so interesting to see them because they are so small.
We saw TONS of Monkeys. This particular one was a Howler Monkey.
There were absolutely beautiful birds all around.
We were on a boat just like you see in the picture below. It was an absolutely stunning ride. It was interesting to be in the rain forrest surrounded by all of its natural plants and animals.
This is what Limon, Costa Rica looks like. It is so colorful and green. I won’t forget my adventures in Costa Rica, and I actually hope to return there sometime soon. They have the most delicious Pineapple I have ever tasted, the biggest Mangoes I have ever seen, and orchids grow wild. It is paradise. The people we met while we were there were also very nice. They love where they live and they wanted us to love it too.
Next Friday is my last vacation post from this trip. It will be about my adventures in Panama, so make sure you check back!
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