feliz ano nuevo! costa rica wrap up...

after a few low-key, rain trodden days in la fortuna (but a fun white water rafting adventure!), i headed to the cloud forests of monteverde and santa elena. the cloud forests are rain forests in elevated regions, making them more susceptible to moisture, cloud formations, and thus creating very fertile habitats for a variety of wildlife indigenous to costa rica. The infamous quetzal and elusive golden toad top the list of things to see, as one explores the forest trails either solo or with a hired guide. there are also a ton of bird species, hummingbirds, monkeys and sloths to grab your attention (we mostly saw a ton of birds...)

the other big draw to the monteverde region is the adventurous and exhilirating canopy zip line tours. literally, series of cables that are strung from the tree tops, creating a big adult jungle gym. you strap yourself into a harness, attach to the zip lines (with help of guides) and race along from tree to tree, over the cloud forests, trees, and fauna. eek! very tarzan and jane-like. i managed to make it through without too many involuntary yelps :-), but did chicken out when it came to the tarzan swing. a bungy cord like aparatus, set up on a VERY tall platform. i was all hooked up and ready to go and decided at the last minute the stairs behind me seemeed like a much better option. so much for my sky-diving career!

santa elena and monteverde were also fun to explore via little day hikes
and I toured a local coffee plantation and picked seeds for a bit (hard labor!) the region in the mountains is the perfect altitude for rich coffee beens, that are then cleaned, dryed, bagged and sent to the lower plains for processing and to get ready for sale. coffee, along with a ton of fruits, is one of costa ricas main exports. YUM!

the trip wrapped up on the southern part of the nicoya pininsula, in the little surfing villages of mail pais, santa teresa, and playa carmen. after spending almost 2 weeks exploring the inner regions of the country, it was fabulous to be back on the beach, near the ocean waves, watching the last sunset of 2005, and bringing in a new year with a surf lesson (i´m hooked!). one of the soap stars from one life to live got married at the hotel-hostel i was staying at and had a roudy wedding party that were fun to tag along with...built in entertainment!

some incidentals:

cold showers!
these definately take a little getting used to, but i was able to devise a fairly strong strategy for them, depending on how cold was cold...kind of a fun challenge after a while, but looking forward to the warmer waters of buenos aires..

misc.
most of the typical tico food consists of rice, beans, plantanes (fried bananas), eggs, fish and carne. although most of the roads are bumpy and slow-going, there is a very developed bus system, that will essentially get you anywhere you need to go...granted you know the schedule and have the time. the culture is very family and friend oriented, with a highly educated population (literacy is in the high 90´s) and burgening economy and political structure (although two of the previous presidents are currently in jail, the upcoming 2006 election is full of promises
to continue pushing costa rica to becoming the first fully developed latin american nation)
a friend commented that at least they put their presidents in jail....lol.

despite the future economic progress,
the puravida attitude and welcoming culture of the ticos will continue to make it a wonderful and diverse place to visit.

have a wonderful and adventurous start to the new year!

amy

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