We had an early start, joining the hermit crab rush-hour in which they were all trotting down the sand towards the ocean, often rolling down the slope when it got steep. Jason had his best cup of coffee in Costa Rica accompanied by an intelligible conversation with Philippe regarding his new modifications to the septic system—nothing like engineering to make Jason understand a foreign language! While eating breakfast an adorable coati stole one of our bananas.

We started hiking, being fortunate enough to view agouti, coatis, birds and reptiles all along the way. The sun was very intense and the sand easily burned our feet. Despite dipping in the water, after 11 AM the sun got the better of us. We saw plenty of bright orange and purple crab shells, intimidating spiders and sprouting coconuts. They look like regular coconuts sitting on the sand, but with a small palm tree coming out the top and roots going out the bottom.

Re-entering the forest, we came across a troop of howler monkeys. After sun exhaustion, we found the research station where we were blessed with our own room, showers and dinner. We found a waterfall with fish in the pool underneath, making Jason feel at home. Our sleep was only disturbed once by a cockroach biting Jason.