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Day 215: Torrents
I 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, bouncing in and out of potholes in a four-wheel drive, sliding around in the pouring rain, before we arrived in Santa Elena over an hour later. Not just any old rain, it turns out that the storms we're experiencing are actually down to 'Alma', a tropical storm that has been battering the coast of central america and leaving parts of it under water and roads closed by landslides. Fortunately, we arrived in one piece, and were dropped off at a hostel in town. Although the boys were happy, I wasn't too impressed by the accomodation on offer, and since I was already dripping wet, I braved the rain once more and head a hundred metres down the road to another cheaper option, which turned out to be
really good. Whatsmore, the couple of English girls who I'd met were staying there, and so I found myself with instant friends on arrival!
Not really able to participate in outdoor activities, I head to a local cheap restaurant (called sodas) for the usual lunch of rice, vegetables and beans, before continuing on to the butterfly farm, which I now kind of regret visiting! One of a couple of butterfly gardens in the town, the one I went to was quite depressing. Not only were the butterflies not flying around too much, but there also seemed to be quite a lot of them that were dead or dying in the cold which was rather sad! I did suggest that they get a heater, but I think it fell on deaf ears. From here, I moved on to frogs, which was all together a lot more cheery and I got to see lots of them, even if the majority were asleep (they're apparently more active at night). I didn't realise there were so many different types of frogs and toads coming in all different shapes, sizes and colours (including the tiny red ones that I saw in Puerto Viejo).
I stopped at the supermarket on my way home, and then along with everyone else, had an evening in in front of the television, drinking and eating far too much food whilst the rain continued outside.
Day 216: What a difference a day makes
Well, today wasn't exactly the calm after the storm, but it was near enough. And don't think I'm not grateful. Waking up to hazy sunshine at six thirty this morning, I semi-leapt out of bed and had breakfast, all ready to join one of Costa Rica's famous 'canopy tours'. Along with Sally and Claire, I was picked up at half-seven by a minibus, taking us to a nearby primary forest, where we were provided with gloves, harnesses and helmets. From there, we walked on various uphill forest trails interspersed by some three kilometres of aerial runways, tarzan swings and a rappel, that let us see the forest from an entirely different perspective (several hundred metres in the air). As well as being fast and terrifying, it was also great fun, and despite a few showers and some low-lying cloud, we still managed to get some great views of the countryside far and wide.
Dropped off back at the hostel, Sally and Claire were heading off to La Fortuna, and so after lunch, and with the rain back with a vengance, I head off to the Monteverde cheese factory. Formed by the Quakers, who founded the town of Monteverde when trying to escape US military service, the cheese factory was three kilometres out of the town of Santa Elena. In need of some exercise, I walked there along the potholed roads in the ongoing drizzle. The tour of the factory itself was fairly informative, although following the storm, not many farmers had dropped off their milk at the factory that morning, so there wasn't a lot going on there. Despite this, it was interesting enough, particularly the slideshow relating the history of the Quaker's settlement in the area, and the free tastings and an icecream at the end certainly made the trip worthwhile! I got a taxi back to town with a couple of american girls, before....
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