On day six in the rainforest we stayed close to our house.  That is not to say we did not have adventures.  Oh, we had adventures—but this time they were mostly in the ocean. 

I promised Spencer he would not have to go on any hikes today.  So, we stayed in and out on the beach.  Audrey and I did go on a short walk where I introduced her to “sensitive plant” which grows wild there.  Our big event was tonight where one of the nice cleaning ladies was coming to make us arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). 

In the morning we went out during low tide with our boogie boards.  For whatever reason, when we tried to come back in we could not get in.  There wasn’t the undertow that pulls you under, there is just this vortex where no matter how hard or fast you swim or kick you get nowhere.  Matt and Cade made it in first, then Audrey.  They were waiting for us on shore (Malena, Spencer and myself were stuck) wondering what was taking us so long.  Finally, I yelled we could not get in, and Audrey put on her fins and rescued us.  While she was towing us in, the honeymoon couple was spotted out on the kayaks with the same problem.  They were being towed in by a surfer, and later by Audrey with her fins too!

In the afternoon we showered and all hung out at the house for a little while after lunch.  I had promised Malena we’d go out in the kayaks.  It was close to 5 (when the ladies were coming to cook) and I thought I would just take her out for a quick kayak trip.  Well, first of all, I had never kayaked before.  So, I leave Matt at home, and Malena and I grab a couple of kayaks.  Then Cade joins us.  So, I pull Malena out and then come back to shore for my kayak and Cade.  It went pretty smoothly.  Malena was really good at staying up, and neither of us capsized at all.  We kept going a little farther, and a little farther to be past the wave break.  Next thing we see Audrey coming out.  I thought things were going very smoothly.  The water was teal green, we were all just hanging out in our kayaks, and then we decided since it was getting dark we should go back in. 

Malena could not get the kayak to go where she wanted it to.  We’d point her in the right direction and she would paddle but the kayak would always turn back out to sea.  So, finally, I hooked Malena’s kayak to Audrey’s kayak and Audrey started towing Malena in.  To give you an idea of how far out we were...Matt finally came down to the beach with my camera.  I didn’t think we were THAT far out, but, the picture of us in the water, well...that was taken with my zoom lens.  We were about a  mile out into the water.  When we started paddling back, we ran into the same problem.  It isn’t an undertow...just a vortex you struggle to get past.  Only this time it was way out past the point break of the waves.  Luckily, Audrey and I are strong girls, so eventually with a lot of heavy paddling we were able to get ourselves in.  Her, pulling Malena the whole way!  So, we deemed her rescue girl. 

Once safely back on shore, we at a delicious dinner prepared by two of the caretakers, and settled in on our porch in our usual routine.  All the lights off in the house to keep the bugs out, and we sit on the porch and take about 100 pictures of bugs.  Last night was no different.  There is a moth that is just huge, and has those “eyes” on its wings.  It wasn’t easy to get the ‘eyes’ but, in the end he ended up sleeping on my knee for several hours.  There was also a super cool moth that looked just like a dried up leaf.  Then we found the biggest grasshopper any of us have ever seen, and the usual cicada’s that Matt is so fond of.  But, tonight we found a blue one!  That was pretty cool.

Now, it is (hard to believe) the morning of day seven, and Audrey is fast and furious after a coati in our front tree...the one animal she really wanted to see!  It is the raccoon of the rainforest.  At the moment she is running thru the jungle trying to get him to eat a piece of papaya out of her hand.

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See that little yellow speck in the ocean?  That was me and Malena—with the ZOOM lens!!  We were WAY out there.  Guess I won’t be getting that ‘Mother of the Year’ award again this year!