So the big news of today is that my camera was fixed by Greg the camera genius who happened to be on a tour of the Santa Elena Reserve with me this morning! Hurrah! I have definitely lost some earlier pictures, but I am so happy that I will have a camera for the rest of the trip. That coupled with the fact that I am feeling great again is making today look a lot brighter than yesterday. We knew it was going to be a good day when we started off with a breakfast of pineapple strudel and a cup of black Costa Rican coffee.

The night tour was well, wet. Imaging yourself trudging through thick, muddy jungle for 2 hours in the pouring rain with flickering flashlights.... it was totally fun but I was freezing by the end. We scoured trees with our flashlights looking for the many nocturnal critters, but it was difficult to look up for too long without getting and enormous rain forest sized raindrop in your eyes! We did see an agoudi (sp?), an owl, some tarantulas (yikes!) and a bunch of totally crazy insects (walking sticks etc.). I was a little nervous when our guide kept poking the tarantula, trying to get it to come out... "no seriously, I'm fine looking at it from here!"

This morning we toured the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve in Monteverde which was AMAZING! A brilliant combination of primary and secondary forest. The sun was shining full force this AM, and subsequently filtered through curtains of green biomass. The biologist in me was going crazy especially when we saw a howler monkey! I also enjoys hiking on a "Youth Challenge" created trail, which let me reminisce on fun times in Guyana.

Anyways, more to do today!