October 14th

Today was suppose to be our last day in Puerto Jimenez. We made a big breakfast to use up the last of our food, which meant we had some eggs with our cheese. We packed and headed to the airport where the guy working there told us the rain was so bad in San Jose they weren't sure they would make it off the ground. we waited for a few hours before our flight was officially cancelled. we were put on the list for the first flight back to San Jose the next morning, but Gaudy's wouldnt give us a refund on the night we were missing because it was less than 24 hours notice. Luckily, Grant explained his situation to the ETS people, and they agreed to reschedule his test at no charge as long as he provided proof from the airport that the flight was actually cancelled. the rain actually was pretty intense; we checked back into Federico's (he gave us a $4 discount, which was pretty kind of him) and we waited until the rain let up to go for a walk up the highway and then to the water front. It was the only night we had experienced so far where there was any significant wind. It actually got to the point where I had the hint of goosebumps on my arms! nice reprieve from the hot, humid air.

When we got back from our walk, the British guy Jonathan, and the two Americans from Washington (Jason and Amy) were cooking dinner, and they asked us to join. Jason and Amy had spent the day sport fishing, and the caught 4 giant mackaral. They had too much fish to finish before they left Costa Rica, so the three of us helped them out. Jonathan also made a pretty interesting salad: soft potatoes with avocado, purple onion and lemon. everything was, as usual, amazing.

After dinner Grant and I joined the other three on a night walk with a local guide. We started off in search of Caymens at the preserve by the waterfront. We saw one fairly close, but the rest were a bunch of eyes that reflected in our headlamps (Grant and I discovered that our lights were essentially out of battery. they were only useful for finding your water bottle in a dark tent. A strong head lamp is essential for a night hike. still, the sounds of the rain forest at night made up for the lack of light). After the caymens, we headed to a spot on Gringo londia where the guide had found red eyed tree frogs. It took some hunting, but he came out of the brush with one for us. It had giant red eyes and an all green body, and very long legs. The ones on the caribean side have orange feet and blue down their sides, but not the ones on the pacific. We also saw two snakes, neither of whom were poisonous to us, but one which would cause a nasty bite if frightened. A few spiders and a bird crossed our path also. We didn't take our cameras on this hike, but it was a lot of fun.

No post is finished without a picture: here is the giant tree that we passed several times on our way to and from Matopalo