We were to meet Alex at 8:00am for a hike/tour through the jungle, so the Magellan had breakfast ready for us by 7:15. Our meeting place was near Hone Creek at something called ICE. We thought this meant an ICE station, CR's electric provider. As it turned out, it was a heilo outlet, as in ice. They sold ice and, as we found out at the end of our hike, also excellent homemade coconut ice cream. The ice cream was packaged in small plastic bags, all you had to do was snip the corner and suck it out. At under a dollar, it was a wonderful treat. 

Alex met us, showed us where to park and we walked 50 yards to the trailhead .  Alex explained that CR had eight recognized indigenous groups, his being the Bribri tribe. Throughout this six hour hike we learned much about: the Bribri, the colonization of this area by the large, foreign plantation owners, the flora and fauna, and got to see the spectacular views and beauty of the jungle. 

In preparing for the trip, the weather forecast called for nearly 100% rain nearly everyday and in every area we would be traveling. So, we thought it prudent to buy rubber boots. As it turned out, the rain came only at night or after we had finished our outdoor activities. We credited this to Brennan saying a prayer for good weather whenever we went into one of the many churches we visited. With all that said, the night before it rained all night so we asked Alex if we needed our rubber boots or just hiking shoes - "hiking shoes would be fine". More to this story later.  

This would be a very strenuous hike, nothing flat, either all up or all down . Along the hike we saw black & green dart frogs, red swamp frogs, a green-barred leaf frog that was completely camouflaged by the leaf it was sitting on, a three-toed sloth, a red-capped manakin (bird) that does a great Michael Jackson moonwalk dance, and millions of cutter ant colonies and trails. Alex pointed out a "bullet ant"; he said if bitten by this guy, you would be in excruciating pain for about 11 hours. He was speaking from experience; he has been bitten five times.  

At the highest point of the hike there was a watch tower user by raptor researchers. From its platform, you could see the ocean, Point Cahuita, and the mountains of Panama. At the lowest point of the hike was a 75 foot waterfall where we had a brief snack of oranges from Alex's farm - we were most impressed with how Alex peeled them with his machete. Here we had the opportunity to take our shoes off and put our feet in the pool at the foot of the falls. This is when Sue discovered dozens of bites on the calves of her legs . We should have worn our RUBBER BOOTS!  

At an open air lodge facility, with wooden floors and roof, we had lunch of fried plantains, lentils, rice, tomatoes and fresh juice. There was a woman from the community who prepared the lunch. The highlight for Brennan was playing with a harnessed piglet that was tied to a tree. Alex told him to rub its belly, it immediately laid down; told to rub under its neck and it immediately started waving a front leg. We learned that the lodge was used by researchers. Our entire hike was within the Bribri community, we saw no other people. There are about 800 people in the community, half of them live and earn their living within the community entirely, off the land. All crops, orchards, and farm animals are grown and fed organically. Alex said his crops are not sold but shared. The other half of the community work and earn a paycheck on the outside.  We didn't see any farms or structures, but Alex said his farm of 2 .5 hectors was only a short walk from the lodge. 

We paid about $150 for this tour, and it was worth every penny.

After changing from hiking clothes to swim suits, we headed back to Playa Negra and played in the waves until nearly dark and witnessed a great sunset. This afternoon, like yesterday,Terry, the owner of the Magellan came to the beach to walk her two big dogs. A local walked by and let Sue know that due to potentially dangerous rip tides, Brennan and Grandpa shouldn't go out any further.   

We cleaned up and headed into town for a dinner of nachos, fajitas, and tacos at Coco's. This was a favorite hangout three years ago and it turns out to still be a great spot. Brennan wouldn't go for cerveza, so he had a mango/papaya smoothie.  We got to enjoy the live music for about 30 minutes before heading back to the Magellan and calling it a day.