“Blessed be the LORD,
who daily bears us up.”
~
Psalm 68:19
Time in home-stay has been nice because we have had more
free time. It’s a little hard for
me to believe, considering how packed they usually have our schedules, but I have
had time to run, hike, write letters, climb trees and even zipline! Here are some pictures from our
adventures.
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| Morning hike with Heather |
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| Mot-mot! |
Monteverde is apparently the place to zip-line. So we decided to give it our best shot!
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| Heather, me, Matt, and Sarah ready to go! |
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| Matt and I practicing |
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| Heather getting in the spirit! |
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| Matt zip-lining like a pro |
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| Heather and I having way too much fun! |
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| Matt ready to Tarzan swing |
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| Sarah ready to Superman |
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| Heather is superwoman |
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| Such a fun day with friends! |
A few days ago we had an off afternoon and decided we should
go climb the
Ficus tree.
Ficus,
or strangler figs, are pretty neat trees.
They are hemi-epiphytes, and begin their life as an epiphyte in the
forest canopy. Once they have
gotten large enough they begin sending down tap roots from their perch in the
host tree to the ground. Once they
make contact with the ground, more roots are sent down and they begin to
enlarge, eventually ‘strangling’ and completely engulfing the host. The host tree eventually dies and
decomposes under the force of the
Ficus,
leaving a hollow cavity in the
Ficus
that is eventually filled in as the roots continue to expand to form a trunk of
a canopy tree. Because of this unique
life,
Ficus make AWESOME climbing
trees. Roots twist and turn
creating hand and foot holds that make scaling these giants very easy. A model tree exists in Monteverde,
completely hollow and forming a tunnel that is easily accessed and
traversed. The opening brings you
30m into the forest canopy (according to Maricela), where you can look down at
the tiny people waiting below for their turn to climb. We were lucky (I guess) and were joined
by a troop of white-faced capuchins swinging and jumping from branch to branch
in the very tree I was perched atop of.
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| Ficus! |
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| A view of the climbing tunnel! |
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| On top of the Ficus |
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| Sarah emerges from the tunnel |
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| Cebus capucinus! Maybe a little too close for comfort... |
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| Friends all matching in pink :) |
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| And a beautiful gift from God on our way home! |
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