Monteverde

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Another early start as the group and myself got picked up by a minibus and taken to Lake Arenal. Once we got to Lake Arenal, we jumped onto a boat and were taken across to the other side. The weather was dry, although it was quite cloudy. It did mean that I could see Volcano Arenal slightly better than the day before when it was raining heavily. Once we got to the other side of the lake, we were greeted by another minibus driver who was taken us to Monteverde. But he was also stopping off at a coffee & chocolate plantation on the way.

On the bus I kept falling asleep, when suddenly everyone was talking about seeing some monkeys in one of the trees. The bus driver started reversing backwards and then stopped so that we could all get off the bus to view these monkeys. The monkeys were howler ones. I was able to get close up photos, but because my camera had got some water in it from the previous night the photos look hazy. We then got back on the minibus and headed towards the coffee plantation.

We arrived at the coffee and chocolate plantation. This place is called El Trapiche and is located just outside of Monteverde. This was a free excursion as it was included in the price of the G Adventures trip. We also had a typical Costa Rican meal included with the excursion and had lunch first before the tour of the plantation. The food was delicious and the coffee included was really good. When we started the tour we first walked around the tall sugar canes these are a lot taller than myself and I am 6ft 2! We then saw the coffee plants and the guide explained the coffee processing steps. I had already heard most of this from my coffee planation tour last year in Guatemala but it was still interesting. Our guide said that locals don't really like to work at the coffee plantation so they get a lot of Nicaraguans who come and work at the planation for a couple of years and they make enough money to go back to Nicaragua to buy a house and have a better lifestyle as their economic environment is not as good as Costa Rica. The guide also showed us coffee plants at different sizes so from when they are first planted to being fully grown plants. The guide then went on to show us the machinery used to produce the coffee. The guide then let us try some sugar cane. You just chew into the cane stick and its very sweet and juicy, then you just spit out the chewed stick as you can't really eat it. We then got the opportunity to take turns in having a ride on the oxcart. The oxcart is beautiful wooden cart painted in red with other coloured patterns and is pulled along by two bulls. After the ride we saw how the make the chocolate and then got to watch the bulls do some more work by then going around in circles but tied to some machinery that got all the sugar out of the cane stick. The sugar was then collected and we got to see the steps at making fudge and even had some involvement in making it. After this we had time to buy stuff from the plantation's shop before being picked up to go to Monteverde.

When we got to our hotel which was near to Monteverde and a small town called Santa Elena. Some of the group and myself decided to walk to Santa Elena to look around at the shops. I was getting short on cash and was hoping to find a cash point. However, when I found the cash point I was unable to get any money out. Once we got back to the hotel I called my bank to find out that my card had been blocked and that they would unblock it for me.

In the evening I decided that I had enough cash for the group meal and we went to this nice posh looking Italian. I was seating next to people in the group who I hadn't had much interaction with and so it was good to get to know them better and hear about their experiences.

The next day

The next day I woke up early again. I decided to walk to Santa Elena to see if I could get some cash out but the cash point would not give me any cash. I got told by the CEO that there was another cash point that I could try later on as we had another excursion in the morning that included in the trip which was to go on a hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. I was really looking forward to this as the main reason for my trip to Costa Rica was to see lots of exotic wildlife and I heard this was one of the best places to see the beautiful bird called the Quetzal. How to describe the Quetzal? well I have already said it's beautiful and the reason I say this is because it is green with a bright red breast and long fancy tail. It looks cute from the photos on Google. I have been told that I should have seen this bird in Guatemala last year but I didn't. But I now know why the Guatemalan currency is called Quetzal.

Anyway we arrive at the cloud forest and within a few minutes of starting the tour we see the famous Quetzal. I was getting very excited at first as I could not see it but could hear it's call. Our hike guide told us it was a male Quetzal and it was calling for a female to mate with. The guide also said that it was now a bit late for the mating season and that this male was crazy. Anyway one of the members in our group spotted it as it flew to another tree and it was really high up. However I managed to get some photos of it, although they were not close ups. You can see a little bit of red with it's green body and long tail. We kept on walking around the cloud forest for a couple of hours seeing lots of other birds and insects, and even saw a hummingbird sat on a nest. Apparently the hummingbird's eggs are the size of M&M's.

After the tour we headed back to the hotel and had a few hours spare before the zip-lining. I wasn't sure on the zip-lining as I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to heights, and I had the stress of having to find a cash point that worked. Anyway, I found out that there was another bank which was about a 2/3 mile walk so I got a map and directions from the reception at the hotel and adventured out on my own. The walk was a killer as it involved walking up lots of hills and the weather was really humid. I got to the bank and used the ATM and it gave me money straight away without any problems. YES!! I was so relieved to have some cash. I walked back to Santa Elena and went to get something to eat at this really cool restaurant called the Tree House (a restaurant with a huge tree in it. Definitely worth a visit) and some other people from the group had the same idea as me so I was not eating alone as I joined them.

After food, we went back to the hotel. Everyone was doing the zip-lining except myself. The CEO asked if I wanted to go to another nature park with him to see some birds (feathered ones) so I agreed. We also met up with two young American girls and headed to the park. Literally about 5 minutes of arriving at the park it started to rain and it got very misty so didn't get to see any wildlife, except for a hummingbird.

In the evening some of the group and myself decided to do a night hike in a nearby park to see some wildlife. Although I don't like spiders, it was pretty good fun walking around the forest at night searching for tarantulas, snakes, insects and other animals. We got to see quite a bit of wildlife and within 5 minutes we had already seen a tarantula and snake.

After the night hike, the group and myself went back to the hotel to get changed and then joined the others for food. We went to a nice local run restaurant in Santa Elena followed by karaoke at a nearby bar. I can't sing so didn't even attempt to do karaoke and I would have needed a lot of alcohol to even tempt me!!

The next day we head south to Manuel Antonio.

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