Today is the long day with not much to tell. :) Relatively speaking. Our last full day in Costa Rica. Some interesting tidbits about this country. First, it's not an island. Second, Jurassic Park was not filmed here, it was actually filmed in Hawaii, although, in the movie, they were on a Costa Rican Island. Some of their major exports are bananas, coffee and ornamental plants.

The wake up call was at 4:45 (yes, am), as we both knew neither one would just "wake up". I of course, was still congested with swollen glands. :( We were both actually mostly awake for at least the last hour as there had been a LOUD thunderstorm that seemed to have subsided by the time we got our call. Nancy was up first and in the bathroom. Out she came and the first thing she checked on was the volcano. And she could see it!!!! I then popped out of bed and sure enough, there was red lava spewing up and red lava rolling down the right side. Very cool, and very lucky. I hurried and got dressed, brushed my teeth and took a picture, just in case. We spent the last five minutes just looking, oohing and aahing. We were out the door at about 5, and appeared to be the first ones there to check out. Got a tiny cup of coffee while we waited for everyone. Apparently Chris was the first one down, and the only one not to take a peek at the volcano. So we sent him up the hill with binoculars to check it out. I didn't feel too bad about not geting up earlier, as those that got up at 4 still couldn't see anything as the volcano was clouded over from the storm. We were on the road at 5:30, with our box breakfasts, for a 7:30 am white water rafting arrival. Only on class II and III, though, but still a good time. We had one potty stop for changing, and several of us bought some coffee for cheap (under $2). We arrived close to 8, but before the other Bill Beard's tour group (another whole story of loud, obnoxious and snotty people from Atlanta, although several of them were quite nice to round it out). We had a 30 minute safety briefing (it seemed FOREVER), and of course, nothing but rain, rain, rain. The water was a little chilly, too. My boat had the guide Eric and Randall in the back; Penne Nancy and I in the middle; James and Chris in the front. I chose the middle since usually the front takes all the water. Not so this trip. Did I mention the water was chilly? The rest of our group was on a second boat, and the Atlanta group split up into another two groups. The loud, obnoxious ones liked to try to start water fights. Did I mention the water was chilly? Luckily, I didn't get too involved in that. I was cold enough. Some of the Atlanta girls also wore rain gear. On a river!

The rafting trip was supposed to take up to 2 1/2 hours; we did it in under two. ZOOM! After our practice session, off we went. I had problems with the first half as I kept falling in the boat. At least I didn't fall out! But man was I getting the brunt of the spray, or so it seemed. The first big rapid was "Superman". This is where Nancy fell in the boat and twisted her ankle, and then was queen for the rest of the day. Kathy was ejected and scraped up both of her shins. I can't remember all the stories we came up with, but basically Nancy was hurt saving Kathy and various guides from drowning, alligators and pumas. :)

I almost fell out but threw myself forward with some help from Randall, and ended the day with only a bruised shin and upper lip (oar "bit" me). The other boat was all thrown forward and Keri got a knee in her thigh. Then our boat went the wrong way and we got stuck, so Eric and Randall had to get out of the boat and move us. It was pretty mild, relatively speaking after that, except I continued to get doused. Did I mention the water was pretty chilly? Nothing but white water the entire trip, and at the end, I finally got my balance on the boat. We did run under quite a few branches, which Chris was kind enough to move out of the way for me. Back on shorre, Nancy had to be carried to the bus, and the guides cut up fresh fruit for us - oranges, pineapple and watermelon. We also had the photographer selling us his pictures and the guides selling us their shirts (thanks to "Big Daddy" for loaning me some cash). We were even able to get Chris to share his oreos. Yum!

By the time we got back to Fortuna, it was getting late, so Randall suggested we stop there for shopping while Fabio went and picked up the other three back at Tabacon. Terrell and Nancy stayed "just because" and went to the hot springs, and Lance decided to stay and get a morning massage since he's been white water rafting before, ya know. I bought more coffee (beans this time), another t-shirt, and tissues for my runny nose. The bus came back, and Lance and Nancy stayed to shop, while the rest of us went to eat at the restaurant where we had dinner the night before instead of back to the italian place in New Arenal. Terrell came for the ride and then walked back to shop with Nancy, and Randall brought back two lunches for them (Lance ate at the hotel while waiting for us). Back to pick up the three, and a very long bus ride back to Sol Playa Hermosa, which was especially long due to my congested sinuses. This was the day I had my one and only nap (no thanks to two benadryl kindly given to me by Chris), 20 minutes long, an hour before arriving at the hotel, doing my usual bus head bob, and apparently my hair was tickling his knee. Oops. :\ Our dive gear was waiting for us in a room, which the hotel tried to put me and Nancy in, but I declined because I was told it was stinky, and I requested the one right next door due to Nancy's boat injury. I also think I recall her saying something about never rafting again. Ever.

I got Nancy put to bed, got her some ice and everything she would need which was not much because she was ready for some sleep, and I did my final big packing. James and I took a walk on the beach, a chocolate sundae for me since they were out of caramel, and ceviche for James. My sinuses were really congested so we walked back, and up the hill slowly, because I was getting tired. I got back to the room, and I was glad to see Nancy was sleeping. I pulled out my postcards and tried to write outside, but there was only two chairs and no table. I took a look around, and I could see the bar. And guess who was there - Chris and Lance. So I went down to join them for a drink and to finish my postcards. Back up to the room and to sleep.