Flora...

I just completed an intensely grueling weekend in which my brains got both scrambled and fried (read: I had a two day, conference-style class for school in which I not only had to endure listening to a lot of different professors about various topics, I also had to work with a team to solve a problem, research the topic, and prepare a presentation which my team ended up having to give not once, but twice!  :P)

So, after almost 48 hours of strenuous academic work, I figured, what better way to de-stress than to blog about the fun, relaxing times I had this past summer.  And since it has been almost two months since my last post, I thought you might be ready for more of my Costa Rican experience.  (Even if you're not, too bad- it's what I'm choosing to blog about, so tough!)

Last time, I focused on places we'd been to.  As the title suggests, this time I'll be sharing pictures of the numerous fantastic plants we got to see!

This is a perfect example of how huge som

e

 of the tropical leaves get!

Don't stumble into this spiky tree!

The vibrantly colored petals on this tropical flower are actually edible!  (They taste sort-of like apples.)

Sure, it looks like one tree is hugging another, but don't be fooled- the "hugging" tree is actually a parasite.

I just loved the contrast between the fallen flower and the dark green leaf, with another leaf hovering protectively over both.

Yes, those leaves (also called the "poor man's umbrella") are really THAT big!
(And yes, I'm really that short!)

I liked the pink spots on these green plants.

Another shot of

Limón Bolívar

Giant tropical ferns!

Coffee grove

Looking into the cloud forest (basically, a rain forest at higher altitudes than tropical rain forests)

 I love the vivid colors of these plants!

I liked how this colorful plant was growing out of the carefully pruned hedge!  

The official first day of classes is tomorrow.  Wish me luck!