http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Costa Rica , Puntarenas , Monteverde en-us Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:37:46 BST Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:37:46 BST Well its too hot to wait outside so I thought I blog abit and zen out and maybe give some of my No Planets Just lonely Dan tips.If you are planning on coming to CR bring money. CR has developed into a big tourist hotspot and probably the most expensive country in Central America. Average price for food is 68 and that is just simple stuff now dining out. Most activities range from 40 averag http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-333016.html I left Puntarenas at 2pm on another local bus. The bus ride cost 2 bucks. My number system in spanish is still very new so most of the time when I am unsure how much something cost I give them a bigger bill but then this equals more change. Costa Rica change is heavy so I think I will need to practice my numbers or I am going to have to either hit the slots or carry a big mountain coop change http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-332437.html Day 11 Nature and Pierce BrosnanWe woke up early to go to the Monteverde Biological Cloud Forest Reserve. With a couple friends we conquered almost the entire park in 2 hours. So many amazing different plants and fauna things you picture when you think of the rainforest huge leaves towering trees vines moss bright colors. I think my skin became saturated with chlorophyll. We went across a http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-327622.html Day 10 Bon Apptit Introduces Grilled ChocoCheeseI was so stoked for this big day that I put on my ipod and cranked up the volume as I started to cut my nails outside. I look up and no one is around. I run to the bus and everywhere is there smiling at me and laughing hysterically. Sound like me I canrsquot get away from crappy habits.Itrsquos really hard to put my zip line rainforest canop http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-326838.html Today started with a van ride to Extremo Canopy Tour. Finally after several days of clouds and rain the sky was a beautiful blue and the sun was shining brightly. It was a welcome sight. The Extremo canopy tour was amazing with several ziplines stretching between mountains. What an amazing experience to be flying through the air attached to a small wire hundreds of feet above the ground. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-312985.html Moving on from Nicaragua into Costa Rica has been like going from floating peacefully down a river to plunging head first into rapids. In fact I've experienced this both physically and metaphorically in the last week...but I'll get into that in a bit Just a quick note before I begin I managed to get a few pics up in my previous blogs. Not many because the internet still is too slow but at lea http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-311025.html I haven't had much time to write at my blog because I have been working with the group to finish our research and put together our project. After the group returned from Arenal we started putting together a focus group for the women in the area to learn about their perceptions of the local farmers' market. I am so glad that we got to choose the farmers' market as the focus of our research. Loca http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-303666.html Hi everyone David here actually writing from Hotel Brio in a tiny village called Gigante on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. As expected time is flying and we're having a lot of fun but as a result we're a little behind on our updates. It is currently raining outside a blessing as the last couple of days have been seriously hot and humid and Liesel and I are taking advantage to update our b http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-301518.html After the first day or so in Monteverde everyone settled in and quickly got used to the totally different environment of the cloud forest region. We literally were above the clouds during most days you could see them down below the mountain and in the afternoon they would creep up the side of the mountain cross over the road in front of CPI and make everything foggy. Sometimes it woul http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-299417.html Hello to AllThis week our main focus has been to learn about Anthropological Measurements things like height weight and calculating Body Mass Index BMI as well as blood glucose and blood pressure skin fold measurements for detecting body fat etc. We had lots of lectures and practice sessions Monday through Wednesday. This was all preparation for holding a local Health Fair where we wou http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-299217.html In some of the gift shops in Monteverde they sell a Tshirt that says ldquoI survived the road to Monteverde.rdquo Itrsquos true that the last hour and a half of the trip from San Joaquin was on a very bumpy and hard gravel road that winds through the fields and mountains and eventually reaches what feels like the top of the world. The panoramas were breathtaking. Sometimes there were sha http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-297075.html It is Sunday evening and I have had my first officially free day since we all started the program on June 22. Yesterday my group the Nutrition Group went with a fellow USF Graduate Student to 2 of the farms that he has been studying for his research. We split up into 2 groups and worked the fields for a while with each of the farmers. Our idea was to speak with farmers to see what motivates t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-296993.html I haven't been paying attention. It is July 4th a national holiday back home and I forgot all about it. I haven't had much time for blogging because we have been so busy with classes all day and homework at night. I guess we have officially had 2 weeks of classes and will have one more week of didactic classes with some of our research in between. After that we will spend the days doing field http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-295409.html From Wednesday until Friday the Field School Group went back and forth between the Poco a Poco Little by little Hotel and the Monteverde Institute. We had several introductory classes about the institute as well as anthropology and public health lectures from our instructors. On Friday morning we were grouped into beginning intermediate and advanced and took our first Spanish Class. Later in http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-292975.html HolaOn Sunday all the students met in the hotel breakfast area to get to know each other. Many of the students have an anthropology background others have public health backgrounds and some are journalism and international relations. We all went to dinner that night continuing to get to know each other. My roommate for a couple of days is Ally and she is great. We get along well and she do http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-292188.html Hi from a very wet Costa RicaOne thing I didn't mention on my last blog as I did not think it would be important is that I got what I thought was a blister on my foot.The day after I last updated we had an epic travel day which involved no fewer then five buses two taxis and one border crossing. We started of with a taxi ride to the bus station with a much more relaxed driver then the night bef http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-289451.html Day 215 TorrentsI can't remember the last time I saw proper sunshine. Waking up early today I again found that there was a torrential thunderstorm outside but the journey had to continue and at eight o'clock I met the Israeli guys ready to get a jeep to Lake Arenal twenty minutes away down a dirt road. From here it was a forty minute boat trip and then another long and painful journey bou http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-281590.html Steve The last night in Tamerindo was quite eventful. We went out for a few drinks when halfway through the night a Boa Constrictor was founf in one of the toilets There was a bit of commotion from the staff before one of the chefs went in and got him. He was about 5 feet long and the chef posed for photos with him before letting other people in the bar pose for photos with him. They then ra http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-274304.html After a rather difficult bus trip to Monteverde we were keen to make the most of our stay here and to see as much of the cloud forest and wildlife as possible... First fact you need to know about Monteverde its cold... well compared to where wed been to so far anyway. I had to get trousers and jumpers out of my bag Whats that all about And when it rains it RAINS not for long but it po http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-274204.html Nach dem aufregenden Tag am Vulkan Arenal ging es per TaxiBootTaxi in die Nebelwaelder von Monteverde. Zimmer bezogen wir unserer Gesinnung entsprechend in der Casa Tranquilo. Unser erstes Abenteuer bestand darin den Nebelwald ueber Haengebruecken in schwindelerregender Hoehe zu durchqueren immer auf der Suche nach dem Quetzal. Leider hat er sich zu gut versteckt. Jedoch konnten wir zusaet http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-272957.html For those of you I left off the first couple blogs sorry I know the last blog was short and sweet. The loss of our bag and all of its contents was a definite bummer but we decided we could not dwell on it and continued with the remainder of our honeymoon Let the fun go on.......We didn't have a hotel reserved in Monteverde when we arrived but we were lucky that the place we wanted to stay http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-255257.html Ah don have tiiiime to be lookin fer ma moooonkayWe spent just over two weeks at the Rainsong Wildlife Reserve run by the Large Texan Mary again exactly Kathy Bates in Waterboy where I got to wash some crates move some cacti and some rocks and some dirt and some lumber and wash some more crates. D cleaned some cages and moved even more things and cut things with a machete cries of http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-253838.html Into the cold mountains we go... The high hilltops are constantly in the clouds and it is wet all the time. I actually requested a second blanket so much for my tan. The scenery was phenomenal we drove over rolling country side and through lush green fields and rocked the best zip lines in the country EXTREMO Zip lines has 20 mountain to mountain zips and boasts the longest zip ever 34 of a m http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-253466.html Well our time was up in Nicaragua and while it had been a blast it was time to head to Costa Rica...First stop was hoping to be Monteverde we had dropped the rental car off and were now on foot without really knowing how to get there. After a long and stinking hot 4 hour wait at the border 1 on the Nica side 3 on the Costa we boarded a bus to Liberia hoping to find a connection there. Fort http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-248427.html Martes el 19 de Febrero 2008 I had to look at my watch to figure this out and a student informed me that it was a TuesdayA day in the life of a Resident NaturalistWake up a tad bit before 6am and by tad bit I mean long enough to brush my teeth and force my eyes open. The fact of the matter is that I should not have any trouble waking up since the rain knocked the power out about 6pm last night http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-248044.html We have to go to Monteverde. When the McLeodrsquos visited Costa Rica some 17 years ago they never made it to the famous Costa Rican community of Monteverde because they didnrsquot have a 4x4. Monteverde has a unique history climate geography ecology and is very difficult to get to. Therefore people want to go there. Monteverde means Green Mountain in English and after spending two night http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-241385.html The first installment in the blog catchup posts is our visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest. Steve's mom Linda arrived from California on Thursday the 6th and we drove up to Monteverde on the following Saturday morning. The 25mile road off the highway to Monteverde is notoriously bad but they recently paved the first 8 miles so it was not too awful. The vistas are amazing as you climb upward y http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-232124.html The surprises just keep coming especially when one can only understand approximately 63 of what is being said around them. At this given moment I understood that we were conversing about Thanksgiving dinner so I smiled and nodded periodically to convey that I was still ldquoinrdquo on the conversation. Since I knew Crosley or Bull would fill me in on the missing pieces of our discussion http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-226375.html After an amazing summer on the Vineyard wrapped up with weeks of intense jetsetting crisscrossing the country I am ready for a break or una siesta as my new friends call it.With the help of my nonrevenue freeloading airfare specialist Mr. Kevin John Graham Scott I was on my way to San Jose for a mere 1.19 which he so kindly purchased for me. Thanks Kevvy. I owe you a Coke.I landed one http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-222395.html So next stop was Monteverde. As per the last few days it rained pretty much the whole way although it didnt stop the views from the lake being rsather interesting. The jeeppart of the journey after the lake was our bumpiest trip yet. 2.5 hours of not really staying in your seat. We arrived at what we are told is the best accomodation of our trip and it is nice. Powerfull hot showers mmm http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-220772.html