Christmas Canopy

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Merry Christmas a todos!

Walt and I started celebrations last night after we made our own spaghetti dinner and had a few beers. After watching a few local fireworks from people's yards, we head to a local bar to have a few more drinks. Met a guy who was on vacation with his family but they were all too young or "too old" to be out at the bar. Had fun dancing salsa with one of the guys who works at our hostel as well. GREAT people here at Pension Santa Elena. Would TOTALLY recommend this place to EVERYONE.

This morning was an early morning. We were up at 6:45 in order to catch the 7:30 public bus from Santa Elena to Monteverde Cloud Forest. It was only about a 20 minute ride? One there, we payed the entrance and were off on the trails. We hiked for 2 hours through multiple trails. It was beautiful. We decided not to do a guided tour but lucked out by seeing other groups stopped to look at things that we were then able to see as well. We saw a coati (racoon family, but looked more like a badger with a long snout), a quetzal (threatened species that is a rare but BEAUTIFUL bird found only in Central America), pheasant-type birds, a GIANT walking stick, and then a howler monkey real high in the trees. Walt and I also had something growl at us from the bushes and we definitely didn't stay long enough to find out what that was. YIKES! We ran so quickly down that path. lol. One guide said it could have been a baby howler monkey praticing. Another said pumas and such weren't rare in that park. lovely.

There was also a little coffee shop beside the park that has hummingbird feeders everywhere and so we saw about 50 hummingbirds flying around us. Auntie Barbara and Uncle Dave would not have enjoyed that one bit! haha.

Once back at the hotel, Walt and I cooked yet another pasta meal, as $6 at the grocery store is far cheaper than eating out!

At 2pm, we were heading out in the Selvatura van that took us to our awaiting canopy adventure. What a GREAT adventure it was. There were 15 ziplines. They strapped us into gear, gave us a briefing on how to hold on and how to break with our hand, then we were off. The first line was short and slow, which I was glad for, as I was a little nervous. It was great though. Walt was more nervous than I was, but he LOVED it. The last zip was the best, as Walt and I went tandom, it was 1km long and was SO high and SO fast. The wind was blowing so quickly in our face, that I could hardly keep my eyes open. SUCH a rush!

The grand finale was a leap of faith that they call the "Tarzan Swing". You're strapped into your harness, but you jump off the platform and do a bit of a free fall before swinging out. I think I was the one most nervous to do it (other than maybe Walt, who doesn't like hights) but it was amazing. I had some people video it for me so I'll try to post that on here too once I'm back home. CRAZY fun! Walt couldn't even speak when I asked him after what he'd thought. He was in shock but later said it's been an amazing Christmas. Agreed.

Now the plan is to shower, go have a nice dinner somewhere for Christmas, enjoy a couple of beers then hit the bed. It's been a very busy, but fun-filled Christmas.

I miss everyone at home of course too and hope you all had a wonderful day.
Merry Christmas!
Pura Vida!

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Photos

Sun Through the Trees
Hard to capture how stunning the walk was through the forest

Monteverde Cloud Forest
Hiking

Hummingbirds
Colibris in Spanish

Canopy Tour
Walt getting hooked into the first zip line.

Comments

[Travelling Artist]

Merry Christmas friend.
So glad you went zip lining! It's so crazy fun and Costa Rica is gorgeous. Can't wait to see your pics when you're home!

[JC]

Looks Like Fun!
Planning a trip and wanted to include this area in our itinerary. thanks for helping me w/how to dress when hiking...knew long pants and thought long sleeve shirt..wasn't sure about boots or tennis shoes. guess good tennis are best ! looks like a blast!