Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

We left Ometepe Island at 6:30 this morning. We got to stay at this amazing farm called Finca Magdelena. The rooms were in an old farm workers barn and this was the view from the upstairs porch. The farm is now run as a cooperative and seems like a dreamy place to work. All the workers are Nicaraguan and they are the happiest bunch weve seen yet.

The island has two volcanoes. We hiked the smaller one, which was still a 7 hour trip on a muddy goat trail. It was great though, lots of Howler Monkeys and some parrots.

We arrived in the town of Liberia, Costa Rica today. This is a hot, dusty northern town with a feel of the old west. We had been hearing from many other travelers how stale the Costa Ricans are and how they "lack culture". As we got off the bus we were informed that today is the beginning of a ten day festival. The highlight of this festival is the Corrida del Toro or "running of the bulls". This is where they let 300 men, all slightly or heavily intoxicated, into a ring with angry bulls.

The running starts with a bull rider. When he is done or falls off the rest of the people take turns taunting the bull to chase them. There were several times that the bulls not only chased people, but actually caught them and tossed them into to the air, amidst screams from the crowd. We didnt see anyone seriously hurt, but it was pretty wild. We caught one on video, so well show you at home. We have decided that the Costa Ricans dont lack culture, they lack brains.