Before heading to the zip line course, the employees fit you in a harness and give you a helmet and pair of construction gloves that are reinforced with an incredibly thick piece of leather across the palm. We then trudged through the jungle to the first platform, where they instructed us how to brake (pull down on the cable...ah, so that's what those gloves are for) and what to do if you get stuck in between the platforms (uh, stuck?). And then we were off...for ten cables with incredible views of the rainforest.

It was fun, but I'm not sure if I really have any desire to do it again. I'm not that scared of heights, but it's a bit different when you are standing on a creaky platform 100+ feet above the ground and angry monkeys are howling and baring there teeth five feet away from you. Also, all I could think of was that episode of The Office where Toby breaks his neck because of a zip line harness failure.

Here is a video of Sam on the zip line. Apologies for the poor camera work, but I was using a Flip MinoHD and was clinging to the tree for dear life (you're always attached to some cable with the secondary safety line, but, uh, yeah...).

We stayed at Witch's Rock Surf Camp, a beachfront hotel run by surfers, for surfers. WRSC was founded by Joe Walsh, a Californian who decided to move to Costa Rica following his graduation from UCSD. He bought an old school bus, convinced some friends to accompany him on the trip, and eventually ended up in Costa Rica. Thus, Witch's Rock Surf Camp was born.

The perfect location - right on the beach

I loved everything about WRSC. The staff members were incredibly helpful and the guests were laid back (Well, of course they would be. They are surfers, after all). The great thing about WRSC is that it caters to surfers of every skill level, from someone who has never been on a board in their life to a surfer who has been catching waves since he was a kid. All beginning and intermediate surfers receive daily lessons (in groups of 2-3 people) while the advanced surfers spend their days traveling by boat or van to different breaks in the region. Since I am not skilled enough to even think about surfing some of those breaks, I was content to take my daily lesson with the WRSC instructors, many of whom have surfed, or still surf professionally. I learned a great deal from these guys, who helped me break some of the bad habits I have managed to pick up over the years. I caught some great waves and also had some spectacular wipeouts that would make you grimace. I've always thought that if you're not going to make the wave, you should at least go out in style.

"And today, we will work on your turns."

My lesson group

Best shower design ever

This damn bird stole a piece of my bacon

Looking out towards the main street of Tamarindo

California pride!

Darcy

Entrance to WRSC/surf shop/board storage area. WRSC has a huge collection of surfboards, and if you are a student there you can check one out anytime. I mainly surfed a 9'2" or 8'6".

Rian and I

These guys were everywhere

Listening to Tico Hendrix.

No matter what time it was, you could always go downstairs to Joe's and find someone to have a beer or nachos with.

For our last night, the WRSC staff threw a "graduation party" and served up a delicious feast.

Happy camper. Literally.

I had such an incredible time at WRSC and met a lot of great people there. I think about it often while I am sitting at my desk here in DC, working on spreadsheets or whatever. I have a feeling I'll be back there sometime next year.

The complex is so big that my uncle has a "gun cart" to get around it. As you can see, it holds shotguns instead of golf bags.

Katie and I

And with my brother, uncle, and dad.

That was the first time I've been skeet shooting and it was really fun, despite the fact that I only managed to hit one clay pigeon. I've found a place out here in Northern Virginia that has shotgun sports, so I think I'll take a lesson there in June. Maybe then I can hit two clay pigeons.

Where the river meets the ocean

He took us through some very narrow and shallow areas of the river to get a closer look at the wildlife living on the riverbank. The humidity became incredibly oppressive, much like what I imagine the swamps of Florida feel like.

Crazy trees

Announcing that he knew where some monkeys were located, he moored the boat and we scrambled up the muddy riverbank and began walking through the forest.

We also kinda scrambled over this barbed wire fence. We were like "Ehhhh..." but our guide didn't seem too concerned. ("Venga, venga!")

After walking on a "trail" for a few minutes we came across this group of sleeping monkeys.

Our guide, of course, would have none of this sleeping business and decided to wake them up by making various monkey noises. Some woke up, and some didn't. And while I can't say I am an expert in deciphering monkey howls, the ones who woke up were definitely not happy. So we decided to leave the area before we were attacked by the monkeys or shot by an angry property owner. On the trip back, we also saw a crocodile but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.

Back to camp

Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker

An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker.

[...]

The team, which left Mount Batten Marina in Plymouth on 19 April in a boat named the Fleur, aimed to rely on sail, solar and man power on a 580-mile (933km/h) journey to and from the highest point of the Greenland ice cap.

The expedition was followed by up to 40 schools across the UK to promote climate change awareness.

But atrocious weather dogged their journey after 27 April, culminating with the rescue on 1 May after the boat was temporarily capsized three times by the wind.

In one incident Mr Stoddart hit his head and the wind generator and solar panels were ripped from the yacht.

I can't recall having a single bad meal in Costa Rica. We ate a lot of meat, seafood, plantains, guacamole, rice and beans (I never thought of rice and beans as a breakfast dish, but it was surprisingly good), and grilled veggies. And, of course, drank a lot of beer. Luckily, we met some fellow WRSC guests who had been to WRSC the previous year and took us to some great (and cheap) restaurants in Tamarindo.

Pick your steak from the counter display and these guys grill it for you. Biggest filet mignon I've ever had.

Stuffed. We also had the entire restaurant to ourselves.

The next place we went to was Pedro's, a small shack located on the beach (my previous post had a photo of it during the daytime). I opted for the jumbo shrimp, caught that day, and then breaded.

Rian's seafood platter

Another meal at El Sabor de la Vida, across the street from WRSC:

I had the shrimp plate (by now you have already figured out that I love shrimp) and it was probably around $5.

The next day, Andrew bought some fish and shrimp from fishermen while he was out on a surf trip. He dropped them off at El Sabor de la Vida and the woman there grilled them, made ceviche, and put on an amazing spread with sides of guacamole, chips, plantains, and rice. For all of this, she charged us about $4 per person. Needless to say, we gave her a very nice tip.

Tucker loves the beach

American pose...in America. Don't usually do that.

Tucker thinks he is a lapdog, BTW.

We'll be back in the summer, when it's a bit warmer.