Peace Lodge: La Paz Waterfall Gardens 5/17/2014

Today we were rewarded an exciting and special opportunity to go to La Paz Waterfall Gardens which is a nature park and wildlife refuge in Costa Rica.  We began our trip by visiting the aviary to see the birds.  It is home and refuge to many wild birds who have been either illegally captured by hunters and confiscated by the government or donated by owners who have tried to keep them domestically.  A highlight of this was an opportunity to be a temporary perch to a toucan.  (My scrunchy face in the photo was when the bird decided to slap my chin with its very large beak).

 

Next, we got to see the butterfly observatory where over twenty different butterfly species soar freely.  And as you can see in the pictures, I had a little friend get up close and personal.

Some other animals that we got to see were monkeys, snakes, frogs, and jungle cats.  As of yet, no sloth spottings, but I still have time!  All of the animals at La Paz are rescued for various reasons and unable to return into the wild. The flowers and plants were also very beautiful!

After we had a tasty buffet lunch of assorted Costa Rican cuisine, we continued onto our hike to see the waterfalls.  The hike was brutal with over 2,000 steps to tackle, but it was well worth it.

  

So far, this trip has given us a long day of travel and exhaustion and a day of fun and adventure.  Tomorrow, we are going to the CPI language school where we will be learning our Spanish throughout our stay.  We will be taking a test to see what level of Spanish instruction we will began at (hint: mine will be the beginning level).  After that we will do a walk about to get our bearings around San Joaquin where we will be staying with our first host families.  Our host families will pick us up around early evening and we will begin our home-stay adventures.  I am excited to meet my host family and continue on this journey, but I am also very nervous and overwhelmed about communicating with my family solely in Spanish.