Day 7 - 8

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First thing in the morning, dropped off the rental car, walked to grab breakfast, checked out, then hopped in a van for the jeep-boat-jeep to Monteverde (it would be more aptly named van-boat-van). The van took us down some decent roads to Lake Arenal where we hopped into a large boat. This was the first point in the trip where Shavonn and I wish we'd brought backpacks instead of luggage. It was pretty muddy from the van to the boat, and we had to carry the rather heavy suitcases.

The boat ride was about 45 minutes and consisted of relaxing in a cool breeze surrounded by beautiful scenery. It more than made up for carrying the luggage. 😊

At the end of the boat ride, we hopped into our next van (with a quick photo shoot at the makeshift bus stop). The scene at the boat - van connection was rather humorous as there were tons of tourists who had packed faaaar more than Shavonn and I. They were carrying their loads through the mud and throwing them on top of the rather tiny vans. Heh heh... Suckas. 😊

The van ride was bumpy and uneventful. The roads weren't as bad as we had heard... But there were a couple of times that my head almost hit the ceiling.

After dropping off everyone else, Shavonn and I arrived at our hostel - Pension Santa Elena. It's a simple establishment, but the staff is amazing. After we unpacked, we came down and talked to Marco at the front desk. He was able to get us oriented and set up with a night tour. During the night tour, Shavonn, with her eyes made sharp by hours of photo hunt games, was able to spot a 2 toed sloth. This thing was darned near invisible in the woods, but her eagle eyes sought it out. 😊 The guide was pretty impressed as he had totally missed it. We also saw a tarantula and one of the more venemous snakes of Costa Rica (a pit viper) coiled around a tree on the side of the trail. Had our guide not noticed it, it would have possibly bitten the first person to walk to close to it.

We were exhausted after the night tour, so we went back to the pension and crashed.

Today, we woke up at 5:30am and, after attempting to hop on two wrong busses, finally hopped on the (correct) bus to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. We got off the bus about 6km from the reserve and walked the rest of the way. Why you ask? We'd heard the road to Monteverde was a good place to spot some of the colorful local birds. Unfortunately, they were either invisible or not present. Given that I kept hearing birds, I'm going with invisible. 😊

We arrived at Monteverde by 7:20am and signed up for the first morning tour. Our guide, Adrian, was absolutely amazing. His knowledge of flora and fauna was surpassed only by his genuine love of his job. He showed us plants we could eat to survive, plants we could boil to cure kidney infections, plants we should avoid... he was also great at spotting birds. Unfortunately, no mammals were to be seen. Nonetheless, it was great exercise and a great learning opportunity. Plus, turns out Shavonn had become a local celebrity given her spotting of the sloth the night before. Our guide had actually heard about the event from another guide while on his way to work. 😊

After the Cloud Reserve, we hiked down the mountain headed towards the Monteverde Cheese Factory. On the way, we happened across a small b&b that offered free meditation lessons. We decided to check it out. One hour later, minds clear and spirits relaxed, we continued the trek to the cheese factory.

The cheese factory was one of the more interesting things for me personally. Apparently, during the Korean War, some Quakers in Alabama had refused to be drafted. It's against their religion as they are pacifists. They were immediately thrown in jail. Though they were later released, this event inspired a mass exodus of Quakers from the USA.

Some of the Quakers wanted to move someplace more peaceful. Someplace where land was cheap and the earth was fertile. They originally looked at Canada, but decided it was too cold. They also looked at Mexico, but at the time, Mexico didn't allow foreigners to own land. They finally decided to move to Costa Rica. This is how Monteverde was founded. The Cheese Factory was the biggest employer for many years (now it's tourism).

Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the cheese factory. But, the tour was educational and the cheese sampling was sublime. Sadly, Shavonn couldn't partake as she got a migraine about half way through the tour. 😞 So, after the tour, we cabbed it back to the hostel so she could relax a bit.

And... here we are. 😊 That's all for now. Till next time, Pura Vida!

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Photos

Beautiful hills
I want this house!

Awesome bus stop
It's sturdier than it looks. :)

Escuela!
A Monteverde school.

Ficus
This is a tree that grows from the top down. Birds deposit seeds at the top of other trees, then the Ficus slowly sends roots down the to ground and continues to grow. Eventually consuming the other tree.

Clear butterfly
Their wings are clear. You can actually shine a laser pointer through them.

Pit viper
Deadly and well hidden. It might be easy to see in the picture, but at night with a flashlight, it was nearly invisible.

Tarantula!
Harmless to humans, but scary as hell!

Rode to Montverde Cloud Reserve
You can see a bus trying to get down the road in the background. It was full of cattle and Shavonn and I were walking it. :)

Adrian
The most amazing guide ever.

Suspension bridge
In the could forest.