The one thing that we got use to quickly at Lapa Rios was the sleeping. You learn quickly that early to bed is a must, because like it or not, early to rise was in the cards. By 8:30pm it was pitch black. Which is why they suggested that you bring a flashlight as you walk along the path – the lighting is dim. Getting to sleep was not an issue, as it is dark, dark, dark and you didn’t want to leave your light on as it attracted insects.

Lying in your bed, you could hear a hundred different sounds. Hit the play button here for a sample. Of course, there is always the exception. The cicada has to be the loudest, most annoying insect alive. It was like hearing fingernails down a blackboard if one was around.

A cicada (pronounced /sɪˈkɑːdə/ or pronounced /sɪˈkeɪdə/) is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many remain unclassified. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes colloquially called “locusts”,^[1] although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as “jar flies”. Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. In parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States, they are known as “dry flies” because of the dry shell that they leave behind.

Enjoy the Cicada.

The jungle starts to wake up around 5AM. Enjoy the sounds of the jungle, the ‘whoo whoo whoo’ is the deep call of the howler monkeys. I loved the early morning chirps and sounds of the birds, a pretty cool way to wake up.

And of course, a pretty amazing sunrise.