Caving in Costa Rica
Today we visited Barra Honda National Park where we were lead through the jungle to go caving.
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| in front of the park map before our hike & spelunking adventure |
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| leaf tasting with our guide |
Our guide had us chew on several leaves with different flavors: lemon, avocado, anis (licorice), & even spicy salsa. Some are touted to lower blood sugar for diabetics, some to lower blood pressure, another to cure sinusitis & migraine headaches & even one that can be used for eye drops to cure all your ophthalmic ailments! We should have stuffed our pockets & opened our own jungle-derived pharmaceutical company!
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| entrance to "La Cuevita" on the ground to the left |
Stacia, Avery, Kyra & Cannon went into "La Cuevita" which was a tight squeeze to get in!
Our guide had to unlock the grate to access the rabit-size entrance. There were lots of cool stalactites, stalagmites & columns of calcium carbonite.
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| Stacia & Cannon ready to spelunk |
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| Kyra makes the hole look big, right? |
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| Kyra & Avery inside "La Cuevita" |
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| caveman Cannon |
Paul, Sydney & Carley descended into a larger cavern (Terciopelo) with safety ropes, carabiners & several bolted ladders. The guide had us turn off our lights at the bottom where there was no light whatsoever, a reminder of the darkness described at Christ's death in 3Nephi chapter 8. After just 2 minutes it got uncomfortably claustrophobic & I could think of nothing but wanting to turn on my head lamp!
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| getting ready for the descent |
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| Carley was first to go down |
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| Sydney was next to brave the depths of the cave |
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| Carley & Sydney among the stalactites of Terciopelo |
Back to Samara Beach
After our day of caving, we again played & surfed at Playa Samara. Sydney & Carley got to use surf boards for free this time as part of their lessons & we rented another board for rest of us to share.
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| Avery on her way out to catch some waves! |
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| Our fist sandcastle, the old pile-on & drip method |
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| The finished product |
Bakery Stop in Nicoya
On the way home from Samara we had to stop at a bakery of course & get some goodies. Stacia found theis delicious bread that was like cinnamon rolls lined with dulce de leche... mmmmm!!!!
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| Stacia with a great bakery find! |
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| had to get this pic of locals with their baby in tow |
Oh this looks like so much fun!!!!!! What a great adventure!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think the picture of you all in the cave safety hats is a Christmas card shot!
ReplyDelete