Rincon de Vieja (or: Monkeys!!)

I spent today at Rincon de Vieja National Park, about 2 hours north of Flamingo Beach. I went on the tour with two couples close to my parents' age, fellow students. These two couples have so much in common, it's so cool they met  during their week here. My friends here and I agree they will probably be lifelong friends. I was glad to be able to hang out with them for the day.

Rincon de Vieja is a volcano, and the park has boiling mud pots and  fumaroles (thank goodness that word is the same in English and Spanish, because I can barely remember it in English!). We saw a lot of such geothermal features, along with a big geothermal energy plant (good use of resources,  CR!), ficus trees, a beautiful waterfall, and most importantly, so many monkeys!!! There were 2 white-faced monkeys (of "Friends" fame) and a big group of spider monkeys. I was thrilled. Our guide was great too, speaking to us 95% in Spanish so we could practice. We finished this great day by covering ourselves with therapeutic mud and soaking in volcanic hot springs!

I can definitely think of worse ways to spend a day. A few pictures are below.

Y en espanol (Spanish speakers, feel free to correct me!)...

Acabo de pasar el dia en el parque nacional Rincon de La Vieja, se queda dos horas norte de Playa Flamingo. Fui en el ture con dos parejas cerca del edad de mis padres, tambien estudiantes. Estas parejas tienen mucho en comun, es magnifica que ellos se conocieron durante su semana aqui. Mis amigas aqui y yo estan de acuerdo que ellos seran amigos de vida.

Rincon de Vieja es un volcan, y el parque tiene barro herviendo y fumaroles (gracias a Dio que esa palabra es la misma en ingles y espanol, porque no puedo nunca lo recordar en ingles!). Vimos muchos de estas caracteristicas geotermas, y tambien una fabrica de energia geoterma (buena idea, CR!), matopalo arboles, una cascada bonita, y, mas importante, tantos monos!! Habia monos de cara blanca (como en "Friends") y un grande grupo de monos aranas!  Estaba muy emocianada. Nuestra guia tambien estaba magnifica, hablando a nosotros novente cinco por ciento en espanol de modo que nosotros podimos practicar. Terminimos esta dia magnifica para cubrirnos con barro terapeutico y banarnos en las termas.

Puedo pensar de maneras peores de pasar un dia! Unas fotos estan abaja.