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Published: April 5th 2006
We finally arrived in Monteverde after a treacherous bus ride high up in the mountains in the dark on a dirt road filled with stones and potholes. As the bus ascended higher and higher I peered nervously over the cliff edges muttering a prayer under my breath, too afraid to speak to James Jones who was trying to make light of the situation. My only consolation was the breathtaking view of the Pacific ocean to my right. We finally arrived in the wind and the rain and after checking in to our hotel, run by a grumpy American hippy, I slept like a baby.
The next morning we were greated to a giant plate of pancakes and fruit before embarking on our Ziplining expedition. This consisted of attaching ourselves to cables and zipping along them from mountain to mountain, sometimes over the jungle and sometimes through it. One of the ladies we called SJP cos she was the spitting image of Sarah Jessica Parker and complained constantly about the bugs in her room. Our newly acquired American mate Jeff took the piss by responding with things like: "yeah, these bugs are really ruining my experience of the wild", and "these
trees are really getting in the way of my view". SJP did not find this funny, but we did! After ziplining, we crossed long suspension bridges where we were able to savour the spectacular views of the vast cloud forest. There are hummingbirds everwhere of all sizes and colours. Gorgeous!
That evening we took a night tour through the Monteverde Cloud Reserve where we saw tarantulas (!!!), bats, glowing mushrooms and fireflies that lit up the forest like fairies!
The next morning we took a guided tour through the reserve once again and were lucky to spot the Resplendant Quetzal, a striking metallic blue/green and red bird and is the national bird of Guatemala. There are only 1000 couples in the whole of Central America (they mate with the same partner for life). Our guide Eduardo explained how the cloud forest works and how global warming is affecting the Costa Rican weather, which was once divided into two distinct seasons: dry and wet, but which are now unpredictable, and how it has caused the extinction of the Golden Frog.
In the afternoon we made our way to Hotel Mirador perched on top of the mountain (via another
treacherous dirt road) where we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Arenal Volcano from our cabin, but were engulfed by thick, ominous clouds. So we had dinner and got an early night...
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FranketyFrank
non-member comment
All well and good..
Hello brave travellors(sp?)...sounds like you are both having a wonderful time. I have just got home from James' leaving drinks at the BBC bar...suffice it to say, an agreable time was had by all. will post pics later hopefully. Sounds like you're having a fab time, but in all fairness, white city really shines in the sun so make the most of where you are....wish you were here etc etc..... frank ;o)