Saturday crocodiles

We then all got back on the buses and rode another 30 minutes or so to get to our next and final stop for the day: the Crocodile Man Tour. Located on Rio Tarcoles, the second largest river in Costa Rica. The river is muddy looking right now since CR is in the rainy season and all the rain washes dirt and mud into the river, in addition to the pollution coming from all the water in San Jose that empties into all the rivers. It got cloudy quickly, and soon it started to rain, just adding to the ambiance of the whole experience. We climbed onto a boat, and headed out down the river, and saw some INCREDIBLE views, beautiful birds, and lush greenery all around:

The tour guide was funny, speaking Spanglish so that everyone understood. He explained that all the crocs (NOT ALLIGATORS) in the river have names after world leaders, like George Bush, Bill Clinton, Hugo Chavez, and even a Monica Lewinsky. Almost immediately we pulled up on a bank of sand near the largest croc in the river, named Osama bin Laden. I think I'll let the pictures do most of the talking here:

Not exactly what I want to do for a grown-up job one day, but it pays the bills I guess!

More views:

These are all crocodiles:

Want to go swimming in this river???

We boarded our buses, said adios to the Puntarenas kids, then headed back towards San Ramon. The bus ride back was much longer, not only because we had a ways to go, but also because there was a LOT of traffic on the highway between P and SR. We finally made it back after 6. I immediately headed home and showered...don't think I've ever felt so clean after all the sweating I did on the zipline, and then after sitting in wet seats on the boat because of the rain! My mother made delicious food yet again, a chicken breast cooked in some kind of barbecue-like sauce, with cream corn and some other stuff sprinkled on top - DELICIOUS. I need to start taking pictures of my meals, because I don't know that my descriptions do them justice. After supper, I finished getting ready and then headed up the street to Kelley's house to meet up with her and some others to head toward the parque where we all decided to meet up around 9. We arrived at the park and slowly everyone made it there, one BIG group of gringos sitting in the park - we definitely get stared at. We hung out for a while, I had yet ANOTHER churro, and then some of us headed toward the stage area to listen to the great band playing. They played music that was very easy to dance to, so of course we were moving around a little bit. A couple of people from our group, Danielle and Michael, were dancing around when an older couple came over and took each of them: the husband took Danielle and the wife took Michael, and they showed them the steps and danced with them for several songs! It was so fun to watch! And they were so nice too, like most of the people we have met here have been. Afterwards, we all walked down the street and met up with the rest of our gringo friends, and we headed toward another student, David's, apartment. He chose not to live with a host family, and instead rents a VERY nice apt. for only 200 a month! Quite different from rent in Clemson, Columbia, and especially Charleston! We all hung out there for a long time, listening to music and just hanging out. Then we all took taxis home. I was SO tired from our long day!