Braulio Carrillo National Park

Eric Stout came for a quick visit last week, and one of the day trips we took together was to Braulio Carrillo National Park. It's about 1.5 hours from Cartago -- part of the excitement of the trip is the scenic drive through the mountains (literally, at one point you go through the mountain by tunnel). 

Bryndon and Eric made some friends along the way. The park ranger explained that the park is home to many exotic animals -- these went from road kill to not-so-great taxidermy.

The path was so ungroomed at one point we were forced to turn around for fear that Lynette would get hurt.

Three toed sloth, above. It's very rare to spot one this close to the ground. According to the park ranger, sloths only come down from the tree tops every 8-10 days to go potty. The greenish tinge is moss growing on the sloth's fur. In its mind, the sloth was probably running away from Eric...although we couldn't tell.

Our not-so-little eight legged friend had hairy knuckles...that's pretty serious.

Free Time

Great news! Much to our surprise, every Saturday afternoon, a group of brothers from a neighboring congregation get together for basketball. With soccer being the sport of choice by far down here, we had to drive around searching for a store that sold basketballs so Bryndon could warm up before the big game. It was a great time -- afterwards we all ate at Fortunato's, where they serve the best pizza in Costa Rica! Mmm...and garlic knots that will make you wanna cry!

They'll find any excuse for a party. Sometimes no reason is needed at all. They love line dances, so I've learned a few and even left my legacy by teaching them a cool dance I learned from some friends visiting from Minnesota...or Indiana......

We spent a day at the Orosi Mirador with a bunch of the friends who had off from work because of Costa Rica independence day on September 15th. Great view, great food, great company! Me and my girl, Raquel, below.  She was baptized at this year's district convention.  Bryndon has lovingly given her the nickname "Raquey Kaky".

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Sorry it has taken so long to add another blog. At the end of August, we spent a few days in Panama, on an archipelago called Bocas del Toro. We spent three days there. A six hour bus trip, and a 30 minutes water taxi later, we arrived on the main island Isla Colon.The island has cars, but many locals get around from island to island and to the mainland by motor boat. Or if you're like this little guy, you hollow out a log and paddle to your destination.

One of our day trips included a walk along the shoreline to Star Fish Beach. The star fish were hiding but I'm pretty sure there was an alligator in these waters...

 We also went dolphin watching in Dolphin Cay.

 This should be on the recruiting brochure for need-greating in Central America...

We spent an afternoon snorkeling at the tip of Bastimentos Island, known as Hospital Point. The best way to describe what we saw: colorful underwater steps full of beautiful coral and fish, complete with an underwater drop-off, which looked like an underwater cliff, a dark abyss, with predators waiting to eat us at any time -- pretty scary!

My favorite part of the trip was Red Frog Beach, which got its name from the tiny poisonous frogs that are found in the surrounding rainforest.

The gold blobs beneath Bryndon are huge starfish! The crystal clear water here is about 10 feet deep and you could see straight to the bottom.

On our way home we came across several obstacles, including down trees and high winds. But nothing could stop our bus driver from making it home on time.