This morning at 6:00 am, a local biologist came by Vida Asana. She took me on a walk to discover new birds.

We visited as we walked, looking at the birds through her scope and her binoculars. She is from Spain and lives now in Jaco, where she conducts eco tours and creates drawings of Costa Rica.

We saw many birds on the 2-hour hike; the blue green grassquit, a roadside hawk(actual name), several ahni, kiskadees, Rufus naped wrens, grackles, and scarlet macaws. We heard a toucan as well but he hid himself in the upper tree canopy. Three huge floating blue butterflies flashed their iridescent wings near a small river. Stunning. Termites created highways up trees and across roads. We looked for, but did not find, basilisk lizards, of which there are usually many, but not this day.

Here, a ficus tree, which is parasitic to any tree, grew on a palm. It will eventually strangle and kill the host plant.

A fantastic way to spend the morning. When we returned, it was time for a breakfast of eggs, rice, beans, fruit, and a kale smoothie.

Yoga at 10:00, then lunch by the pool. Such a life. I decided it was going to be hard to go home!

Today was the first sunny, hot day here. The poolside felt refreshing and peaceful.

After lunch, we had a few minutes to get ready for an excursion to a tribal sweat lodge.

When we arrived, the tribal elder’s home had a beautiful view.

He stoked a long-burning fire.

And placed the hot coals inside this small hut.

We took a cold shower and proceeded to all go inside the hut, where the curtain was dropped, water was thrown onto the stones and we breathed and detoxified our bodies with herbs and steam. We would then go out for another shower, a cool bath and repeat. This went on for 4 hours. Whew.

We were encouraged to drink the shower water to stay hydrated. I worried about getting a bacteria from the source. Ugh.

Upon our final shower, the skies were beginning to color. We ran to the beach for sunset glory! Look at these skies!

We headed back to Vida asana and got ready to head into Jaco for dinner.

My first beer in 5 days! So good!

Until tomorrow my friends.