Mountain Time [Costa Rica Travel Photography]

We decided after our experiences on the coast that we wanted to check out the mountains. So we decided to visit Alex's niece, Julia, In a little town, way up North, called Bijagua. Julia has settled down with a lovely Costa Rican fellow, and is managing to finish her degree through a nearby international school. A lot of the following photos are of her and her home, and her animals, and her boyfriend's family, and their beautiful garden: You can check out the projects they help facilitate here: www.fincagroecologica.comWhen I thought about Costa Rica, I thought beaches. Why would I go anywhere except the coast? So we only saved ourselves a couple of days at the tail end of our trip to go to the mountains. I expected Bijagua to be a tiny town, where we would meet locals, hang out, and not really do much. How wrong I was. First thing, it was a huge relief to be out of the extreme heat that dominates the coastal climate. Second thing, wow, talk about jungle walks extraordinaire. We could have stayed for weeks! I spent our entire time in Bijagua wishing I had brought my super wide-angle lens.We walked through the canopy of the jungle on suspended bridges and I felt like we were in the movie Avatar. Very exciting to traverse the treetops without having to travel to a different solar system :) The canopy of the jungle is unbelievably rich with life, it's an entire ecosystem up there—tree tops with layer upon layer of growth and tiny birds and creatures flitting in and out. It felt like swimming through coral reefs. (We kept our eyes peeled for a sloth, but no luck, I think they just look like moss, and there is so much moss!). Unfortunately, the experience was hard to capture without my wide lens. Just imagine 100 meter's of jungle directly below the photographs of the suspension bridge.The following day we went on another jungle walk through a different park, where there were huge waterfalls and a vibrant blue river. One of the photos shows the normal murky brown river as it comes into contact with sulfur, and the chemical reaction turning the water brilliant blue. There were also hot springs along this river. (They used to let people swim in them. Not anymore, but I couldn't resist testing the water with my toes).I would love to come back to this extraordinary town—and the first thing I would do is get back up to those suspension bridges over the canopy.