costa RICA

arriving in costa rica from el salvador, honduras and nicaragua is like a slap on the face. it is no coincidence that in the country name "costa rica", there is to be found the one word "rica".
the differences, in terms of richness, are obvious from the minute you cross the border. the road is paved. not only it is paved, but it also have those nice colored reflectors on the side of the road, for easier night drive. the deli, at the border, was now charging double what i could have on the nicaragua s side. the buses were not the caracterial colorful chicken buses but rather spacious, cushion seated pulman - and their price boosted accordingly. when we took off (louis decided to follow) i saw freshly cutted grass on each side of the road. even the cow seemed healthier, fatter. there were more cars on the streets. the differences are abundant, but in short, what was making it a bargain to travel so far was suddenly not so the case here in this rica costa. i had been warned by previous travelers litterally fleeing the country up to the rest of central america. it is, after all, even when warned, shocking to be paying more then at home for the same goods.

thus, i didn t lose much time and went straight for the adventure. in a single day (today), i had booked 3 excursions. the first one consisted in "eXtreme canopy" (zip-line). the company had just finished intalling the longest zip-line accross the the cloud-forest of Monteverde, which made it appealing. that one metal cable went on for more then a kilometer over this virgin jungle. it s the closest thing to spider man you can get. one surprise over the run: the tour included a tarzan jump, which, i had to admit, was more scary then i d thought. up there, the guy told me to count untill "4". at "2" i had a kick in the butt and off i went "aaaaaa-ia-ia-ia" little tarzan did.
the region has the perfect climate for coffee, so i booked a comprehensive coffee tour with a local coop of small farmers. it was nice and instructive.
late after noon, i escalated a hughe tree, over about 25 meters. this weird natural phenomenon, in short, makes the trunk of the tree empty, making it possible to climb it from inside the trunk all the way to the top. i watch the sunset from up there and my day was off (main pic).