So... where is the wind machine?

Last Friday found our group on a day-long field trip to nearby Tilarán, a town located about an hour and half from Monteverde, within the mountain range of the same name. The day was divided into two parts, with the morning being spent at the ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad) hydroelectric plant, which generates about 35% of the country's electricity, and the afternoon being spent at ICE's nearby windmill plant, which generates about 6% of the country's electricity. With less than 10% of Costa Rica's energy being derived from imported fossil fuels, these and other such plants play an integral part in keeping the country in power.

Possibly the best picture ever. Linn is thrilled
to learn about windmills, while Cally has yet to be
convinced.

One of the groupings of windmills. They can't be placed too  close together, or they will mess with each other's wind.

Beautiful vistas from the "command center" of the wind farm.

Whoever said windmills are ugly and mar the landscape
is a fool. They are absolutely lovely.

The giant pipeline that brings the water, pressurized
to over 400 pounds per square inch, from the nearby man-made
Lake Arenal, at the foot of the Arenal Volcano.

Where the magic happens-- aka the plant's control room.

The highly-pressurized water will be used to
spin turbines, such as this one, to produce electricity. Very, very loud.

Pati caught the baby basilisk lizard, after it nearly scared
me half to death. In my defense, I thought I was about to be attacked by a giant spider...

But it was just this guy, who is playing dead to try to
prevent Pati from eating him. They are also called "Jesus
Christ lizards," due to their strange gait that allows them to "walk"
on water. Or look like seizing spiders when they are on land.