Actually, we didn’t all paddle. Mostly, it was just me and the guide, and even I stopped from time to time to gawk.

One might fear that we would be in danger, after 50-something days on this trip, of running out of new and exciting things to do. Worry not, oh follower of our adventures. New and exciting opportunities present themselves almost constantly here.

Jen woke up with a start the other day and said, “We haven’t been on a canoe yet during this trip!” And within an hour we were on the water paddling with our guide across the inland waterway. It was a new conveyance for us, plus we managed to encounter some new animals in the jungles and marshes. The family got to see some caimans in the wild (remember, they did not see the ones I saw on the boat ride here, and the one that was occupying the pond at the ASIS Project was practically in captivity, though it wasn’t a rescue animal and it nearly leapt out of its skin to catch a dog while we were observing it during coffee break).

We got pretty close to this Night Heron. Night Heron don’t care.

The green heron was cool and so was the night heron. We were able to get up nice and close thanks to the tranquilo nature of canoe travel (there were many boats out in the channels, even before 7 a.m., but many of them had motors). In fact, our guide did not seem concerned at all about getting close to the animals or even running into them, as was the case with the first caiman we saw. There were a few other near misses, including the above-mentioned herons. The birds, to their credit seemed unperturbed by our proximity.

It should be said that we’re starting to consider ourselves experts in jungle animals, to the extent that even though our guide told us we were seeing howler monkeys, some of us were doubtful, due to the fact that the monkeys seemed to be holding onto branches with their tails. At the ASIS Project we were told that spider monkeys were the only ones in Central America with prehensile tails. At least that’s what we thought we were told. We might have actually been told that spider monkeys were the only ones at the ASIS center with prehensile tails. According to Wikipedia, both spider monkeys and howler monkeys hold onto things with their tails. It’s a good thing I kept my mouth shut during the canoe tour.

We took a homework break to watch a movie.

Other than that adventure and a brief walk through the National Park at the end of the main street here, we’ve been keeping a low profile. We’re not bored, mind you. The girls’ teachers have given enough homework, and the girls have waited long enough to get to it, that the days here have been filled with pretty productive study. I was even thinking of getting them some essay aid to make them get through their homework quicker. But they were pretty quick about it themselves so I just left them to it. The motivational factor is that in just over a week (!) we’ll be meeting up with our friend the Brookses in Belize, and who wants to still be working on homework with the Brookses around? Nadia’s mystery story is getting written (and quite suspense-fully, too), Zoe’s personal reading responses are flying out of her pen, and Lanie is tearing through math packets on money and measurement.

This restaurant was called the Buddha Cafe.

Going to restaurants for dinner every night is excitement, as well, though we’re rapidly making our way through the options available. I took the truly adventurous step of getting my hair cut at the barber whose shop is on the other side of Mrs. Beyette’s kitchen from us. Sadly, at press time no pictures exist of the results, but I was pleased enough that I told the barber I wasn’t going to be wearing my hat for a while. He said a lot of things I didn’t understand — that still happens here — and I wouldn’t let him change my part to the other side of my head, but it was not an unpleasant experience, and it will have grown in significantly by the time I make it back to the US. Also, I do still have my hat, in case the haircut honeymoon ends when I look in the mirror in the morning.

And lest we forget what true adventure is all about, tomorrow we have a trans-continental trek, Caribbean to Pacific, spanning, potentially, six legs of travel. That is adventure Central American-style. Our ipods are charged. There’s bread and peanut butter in the bag. We’ll write you again from Manuel Antonio.