The Best Day in Monteverde

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We have been here since Sunday, but today was the best day by far. Unfortunately Alli was too sick, so she stayed in the house to sleep. Mike, Mo, and Amelia - and Shannon and Kai (I'm Shannon) got a fairly early start (though not by Monteverde standards) and were off to the Ecological Sanctuary.

The Ecological Sanctuary is a privately owned reserve, and much of it was formerly banana and coffee plantation, and other parts of it are secondary forest. I don't think there is any primary forest, so it's not at all like, say, the big reserves. We pulled into the parking lot and a woman explained - in Spanish - about all the trails. She spoke slowly and we understood it completely - some trails are very easy, others a bit harder, and some are QUITE "inclinada" (steep). Some areas were more likely to have animals and there are several waterfalls and lookouts. Since two of us were carrying 25 lb babies in framepacks, we chose to avoid the steep sections. Instead, we started with the Green Trail, through the picnic area, where we saw lots of Agoutis running about. In this area, and nearby, we would find banana trees, some with bananas still growing, and coffee beans littering the ground, amidst other large forest trees. It was like finding a bit of the past. Next, we veered off onto the yellow and blue trails, and these seemed to wind about eachother. At times it was confusing, which trail we were following, though it was clearly a trail. At one point, we took the Yellow trail though we wanted to stay on Blue - and that was a stroke of luck. That was when we saw the Capuchin monkey. The blue trail led to three lookouts. At one, there was a big canyon and we saw a large bird of prey wheeling in the sky. The contrast between the lush green mountains nearby and dusty brown hills further away created a beautiful landscape. We could hear the sounds of a crashing waterfall, but the map indicated it was quite far away. At another viewpoint, we could see the Nicoya Gulf. When we finally made our way back to the Information Center, we followed one last trail - to the smallest waterfall - but the easiest to get to. It completed our day perfectly. I loved the Ecological Sanctuary because it had a lot of great loop trails, a variety of things to see, and plenty of animals. Besides, they had thoughtful touches like roofed areas to sit, bridge-like lookouts, and great signage.

After the hike, we were pretty beat, so we drove to the Art House (Casa De Art) in Cerro Plano. This beautiful gallery has many rooms of both high art and handicrafts. I ended up buying quite a few things, including a great little drum for my son (he loved it!). I could have bought so much more but my suitcase is only so big. Kai was really good for his first time in an art gallery. I told him not to touch and he didn't, except the musical instruments, where I allowed him to touch. He seemed to be thrilled by it. But what he loved more were the whimsical gardens in front of the gallery. Winding paths meandered through hedges and flowers, over a stream, into little clearings with stone and wood seats. It was a joy to be in the bright sunshine, with the mist of a light rain, following my toddler son around the gardens - with him following butterflies - and leaning down to investigate a pebble.

After this respite, we headed over to La Chimera, a fantastic Latin tapas restaurant in Cerro Plano (the town between Santa Elena and Monteverde.) We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a baby in a walker. Our babies then, would be welcome. We ordered many delicious dishes and my son joined in with gusto, thoroughly enjoying dipping his fried yucca into the chipotle sauce. The shrimp sambal was amazing, and the smokey chicken tortilla soup was too. Everything was great. The kiddos also loved the patacones (green plantains). I loved the service, the food, and the amazing view out the back - of the blue skies and green forest of this area.

After all this, we were all ready for naps and ended up back at the house taking long leisurely naps.

Unfortunately our dinner broke the spell. We ate at De Lucia at the recommendation of the house's guidebook. It was standard American steakhouse fare. While they were very hospitable to us and our children, it wasn't a thrilling meal. However, I will say that the food was cooked very well, and the steak was tasty - it just didn't hold a candle to La Chimera's magic.

Tomorrow is our last day. We plan to visit the Monteverde reserve, and then the Sloth Sanctuary.

I am somewhat bummed that we missed the Bat Jungle. I may have to try to fit that in tomorrow afternoon. We also have not yet seen the butterflies but I have seen plenty of Blue Morphos flying about in the wild.

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