We´ll my blog will just hav to skip over my last month in Japan. Because I´m in Panama right now. Jenny and Stacy had planned a 9 day trip to Costa Rica from Dec. 19 to the 27th and I decided to tag along.

We went to San Jose (Jenny and Stacy got detoured to Liberia, because of a full flight. But that´s another story.) Then we went to La Fortuna to see an active volcano, but it was too cloudy to see the volcano. So we ended up hanging out at a great hotsprings resort called Baldi.

Then we went to Monteverde (spelling?) to go zip lining through the Cloud Forest. The zip lining was so much fun, but also a little bit scary. Especially the last line! Which was 670 meters long and went flew over a really deep valley. It happened to be really rainy and windy when we did the last one, so we were flying around. I was trying to stear myself but ended up braking too much, so I got stuck in the middle. Yup, I was dangling over a huge gorge! I totally freaked out, but luckily one of the guys who worked there raced out and rescued me. The next day the 3 of us went hiking in the rain forest, went to the cheese factory (Stacy really wanted to eat some gouda), and visited a coffee plantation.

Our final stop was the beach at Manuel Antonio.   We spent three days relaxing on the beach.  Jenny and Stacy rented a surf board one day, but the waves were pretty big and scary.  We also went to Manuel Antonio State Park on Christmas Day.  In the park, we saw a bunch of monkeys, a boa constrictor (scary!), and a sloth. 

I was having such a great time (and enjoying the nice warm weather), that I decided to extend my trip and see more of Central America.  I am in Bocas Del Toros, Panama right now.  (Which is a cute little island off the North East corner of Panama.)  And my next stop in Panama City and the Panama Canal.  After that I think I´ll head up to Nicaragua then Honduras.   I don´t really have many plans right now, but I´m sure it will be a fun time.