In Search of the Good Life...: Costa Rica Day 11 - Caribbean Dance Lessons, Jaguar Rescue Center, Surf Lessons

I was a bit loquacious in yesterday's post so I'll try and keep this one short, which is difficult to do when we keep doing AWESOME THINGS ALL DAY.

Afro-Caribbean Dance Lessons

We started the morning off at Salsa Brava, a dance studio/Reggae beach bar. Miss Wanda, the owner, led us through a series of dances, including bachata, salsa, and one of the Afro-Caribbean dance styles (don't remember the name...) that is typically danced for carnival. My loyal ~~readers~~ reader (thanks, Mom) might remember that we learned bachata and salsa while we were in Monteverde. The Afro-Caribbean style of both of these dances is slightly different. More hips and hands. The class was great fun due largely to Miss Wanda's infectious positive energy. We were all drenched in sweat by the end of it. Like...my sweat had sweat.

Getting physically and mentally psyched for the morning's dance session.

This was as coordinated as we ever looked.

Salsa Brava/Reggae Nights is right on the beach--very cool setup!

The woman standing next to me is Miss Wanda. The woman can dance!

El Centro de Rescate Jaguar (Jaguar Rescue Center)

From Salsa Brava, we ventured down the road to El Centro de Rescate Jaguar. Started in 2004, the CRJ is a rehabilitation center for animals who have been injured, illegally kept as pets, abused, abandoned by their parents (due to death or other unforeseen circumstances), hit by cars, electrocuted, shot, etc. Learn all about the history and mission of the CRJ here. Our guide, Sky, along with the other volunteers oversee the care, rehabilitation, and (in most cases) eventual release of the various animals that find their way to the Center. We saw many different types of birds, monkeys (including lil' baby monkeys), reptiles, jungle cats, and a few other odds and ends. The very sequenced process by which the Center builds their animals capacities to function in the wild was really fascinating.

Our tour guide, Sky, is giving us an overview of the CRJ.

If you look closely, you can see the eyes and tails of little tadpoles. These frog eggs are days away from hatching.

Tammy the Anteater may not ever be able to return to the wild, but he has a good life at the CRJ.

Some volunteers just have to hold baby monkeys all day.

I mean...does it need a caption?

Surf Lessons

After the CRJ, we broke for lunch and then quickly headed out to Playa Coeles for a 2-hour surf lesson. Y'all. Surfing is harder than it looks. I wish that I would have taken pictures during the second half of the class instead of the first half. We all eventually got up on the board and many of us definitely got the hang of it by the end of class, but the first 20-minutes was wipeout after wipeout. Our primary surf instructor, Herschel, is Miss Veronica's son (our cook/hostess from last night).