On our second day in Tortuguero we decided to go on a hike on 'The Hill'. This hill is only accessible by boat (like most of Tortuguero) and has some unbelievable creatures to view.

Ross was our guide. This fella knows more about wildlife of all sorts than I could even try to absorb. He was so much fun to follow around and pester with questions.

Charlie and I never ran out of questions for Ross, and Ross never ran out of answers. It was a perfect match!

Ross said we needed rubber boots, now we know why.

Charlie found this little guy on our walk. He was nestled between the leaves catching a snooze.

These little poison dart frogs were EVERYWHERE. They are pretty small but easy to spot due to their bright colors. Their name comes from the Choco indians that used a close relative of this species to envenom their blow darts. All it took was to rub the dart along the body of the frog to turn it into a lethal weapon. These little guys are not quite that poisonous, but I wouldn't go around licking them to see what would happen.

We didn't realize that our boots were not going to be tall enough for the water. The shot on the right is at just the moment that the water began to rush into Charlie's boots. You can see how happy he was about that.

The spiders in the rainforest were HUGE. I made sure to always walk behind Ross. This is not a creature I would want to run into.

This spider monkey was playing up in the treats eating a mildly poisonous leaf. Apparently they use it as a anti-parasite. Self medication, brilliant!

She loves them, then she eats them. Man, the animal kingdom is rough. I am happy with dinner and a movie.

Ross saved this one from nearly drowning. I think she was pretty happy about that. And it made a great shot.

We are on vacation in San Diego for the week. I have been having a great time with my family and especially with my niece and nephews. They are so much fun.

I actually took a similar bunch of photos with Micah, you will probably see it at a later date. I thought I would give you a sneak peak of little Priya.

If you look at the San Francisco skyline, there are two very tall buildings. One is the pointy Trans-America building, the other is the Bank of America building. The Bank of America building is where Charlie works and where I occasionally go for work events. Last week I visited him in his office for a wine tasting event and I took the opportunity to grab a few photographs. This is a shot from one of the windows facing the Bay Bridge.

This is where Charlie spends a good amount of his time. He gets to see the sunset behind the golden gate on most days.

The view from his window is an incredible view of the Golden Gate bridge and the city.

Not a bad way to spend your workdays.

There are nightclubs everywhere. If you go to any major city, and even a one-horse town you are bound to find at least one place that serve drinks, food and music of some sort. But, how many of them can boast a four story rain forest, an aquarium, a natural history museum and a planetarium all under a living roof? Well, there is at least one nightclub that can.

Welcome to the Academy of Science. Every Thursday the academy stays open till ten and only allows visitors over 21 years of age. They serve cocktails, have live music, and you don't have to battle with strollers to see the exhibits!

There is nothing quite like staring face to face with a snake after a few cocktails...

With fewer crowds to contend with, viewing the exhibits is so much more fun!

It is a bit of a strange feeling to wander around the museum and to end up on a dance floor. But the music was bumping and, well, I can't stop these hips.

This exhibit is actually pretty funny. I think I enjoyed watching the folks watching the exhibit more than the exhibit itself. Everyone gathers around just waiting for one of the little pegs to drop, then they let out a big 'woot!' when one finally does.

Not a bad way to spend a weeknight, especially if you are looking to educate yourself and get your groove on all in one venue. Nope, not bad at all.

We left La Fortuna at about 5:30 am and began the long treck down to Tortuguero. This was not a short trip. We drove our rental car back to San Jose, took a taxi to the bus station. The bus ride was about 4 hours. We waited about 3 hours for another bus to take us 2 hours to the dock. Then it was about an hour to tortuguero by boat.

Tortuguero is an amazing little town. You can only reach it via plane or boat, and the boat ride is incredible. You go winding through the canals looking for wildlife and typically end up soaking wet from the rain. The hot smelly bus ride and all of the waiting around to get to Tortuguero is more than worth it.

We spotted quite a bit of wildlife on our boat ride and I managed to get a a few shots despite the torrential downpour.

So bummed this little guy was facing the wrong direction... at least we can see the beautiful colors and patterns on his skin.

The rain that poured down in Tortuguero was incredible. I have never experienced such a massive dropping of water. And while it wasn't so conducive to many activities we enjoyed the time to read while listening to the rain dropping on the tin roof.

When there were breaks in the rain we took the chance to walk around the village and check out the beach. Here Charlie is sporting the latest in high fashion, Costa Rica style.

And I even got to have my drink from a coconut. More to come...