Greta and Paulo were our guides for the hiking adventure. The trails, cave, and waterfalls are all on private property. There are three families in the area that put in all of the steps, take care of the garden, and put in the kitchen, bathrooms, and all the plumbing at the cave. The hike up is extremely difficult- now imagine carrying all of the construction equipment and materials! We took frequent water breaks because it is 3 miles straight up the mountain; there aren't many switchbacks at all and most of it consists of muddy, narrow stairs.
About halfway up, we stop at a beautiful garden. We met the gentleman takes care of the garden and tends the horses that carry the materials and food for part of the trail. They had fresh bananas hanging in bunches for us to eat. After our snack and a few pictures, Paulo brought us around the garden for a tour.
The first plant he picked a leaf and told all of us to take a little piece. We waited until everyone had one, then he told us to taste it: it was AWFUL. In English, it's called "Jack--- fruit," which is extremely bitter, leaves a terrible taste in your mouth, BUT, it helps with upset stomachs. The fruit of it apparently tastes much better, but the leaves are awful. Next, thankfully, he gave us star anise leaves, which taste like licorice, so that helped a little. We also got to try some basil.
Paulo then picked a yellow/white fruit off one of the trees. He told the students that many people eat it to help prevent and treat cancer. It's called noni fruit. The students were eager to try it out, but were quickly grossed out when they found it tastes like curdled milk or, as one of them described it, "rancid blue cheese." At this point, things were looking up and we had the chance to try guava right off the tree, peppermint, and lemongrass. We picked the peppermint and lemongrass so we could make tea in the cave that evening. We also tried kale and cauliflower leaves right off of the plant. Paulo cut a small piece of bark off a tiny tree and passed it around the group- it was cinnamon and smelled so good.
A fan favorite is always the beehive ginger, or "shampoo plant." We don't eat this one... what happens is plant collects water in these little pockets, then you place your head under the plant and pour the water out. Your hair smells AMAZING and it's nice and soft. The students made more than one visit back to those plants! Another favorite was the cacao. Paulo also took the fruit right off the tree, which was interesting because cacao fruit grows off the trunk, not the branches. He cut it in half and we each took a seed that was surrounded by the white flesh of the fruit. The seeds are very bitter and roasted because cocoa is made. However, you can eat the white part of the fruit and it is delicious.
Our last stop in the garden was a two story shelter with a straw roof. It had a beautiful view out into the hillside. On the second floor, the students discovered very large spiders (note: I thought the boys screamed a lot when they had a bug in their room the other night, but yesterday, they were screaming and running in all directions away from the spiders). Katie said they looked like the spiders that pop up when you Google "scary spiders" during an image search. What was even more shocking was when Eva went upstairs, picked it up, and brought it to show the group. She said it was a Golden Orb spider and that they are harmless. The females are much larger than the males; the males can only mate when the female is eating because she would be distracted from eating him. Eva said that these spiders are known to catch hummingbirds in their web and eat them... they are very big spiders. Several students got over their fear and let the spider crawl on them as well. Mrs. Wooden is afraid of spiders and you would never know- she had it crawling up and down her arm. After facing our fears, we left the garden to finish our hike.
It took another 20 minutes or so going uphill to get to the cave. We got settled in on our mattresses and played card games until lunch. They made hearts of palm soft tacos with fresh guacamole, so good after a long morning hike! We received a rappelling lesson from Jacob, another guide, after lunch. They outfitted us with our harnesses and helmets, then the group was split into two for our rappelling adventure.
The students did very well! Everyone decided to rappel and they did a fantastic job. We have to hike to the top of the 100 foot waterfall, cross a stream, then stand on the top waiting our turn. Between the stream and the moss, it is very slick up top. Many students slipped starting out, resulting in some minor scrapes and bruised egos, but it was smooth sailing once they were past the face of the cliff. I have never seen anyone smile as much as Justin did- you couldn't wipe the grin off his face if you tried. He was the first student to go and he was awesome. Colin and Aaron got some footage on their Go Pros and I tried to get pictures of everyone as they rappelled down.
After everyone went, we had some time before dinner, so we went on another hike down to Diamante Falls, the tallest waterfall in Costa Rica (note: I tried to do some fact checking and this looks like the correct info- over 600 feet tall). We stayed behind a cable to peer over the edge; you could see the coastline and Cano Island from the top. We moved up the stream to swim in a small pool above the falls, then left. The students only swam for a few minutes, but in that time a cloud came over the mountain and completely blocked our beautiful viewpoint.
When we came back to the cave, they had coffee, tea, and Costa Rican cookies to hold us over until dinner. The tea was refreshing and they quickly ran out. The card games continued until our pasta dinner at 7:30. One of the most entertaining parts of the evening started just before dinner: Aubrey and Mikala were making "Blair Witch" style videos on Aubrey's phone. Ben ran in to scare them and, just like that, they got the idea of filming a horror movie in the cave. It started out with those three, Marley, Ryan, and Justin, then after dinner it was an all out group effort and everyone had a part. It was hilarious! This group is so creative and found a wonderful way to entertain themselves! The sun had been down for quite some time (usually there's sunlight from 4:30 AM until 5 PM), so we had an early night and went to bed a little before 9.
We are all back safe and sound and I will write about today's adventures later this evening! Heading to the beach for some swimming in about 15 minutes... Pura Vida!
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