Blogs from Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 8

Dag iedereen, Vandaag zijn we om 8u vertrokken met Interbus naar Monteverde. De meeste mensen gaan van La Fortuna naar Monteverde met de Jeep-boat-Jeep, over Lake Arenal maar met al onze baggage leek het beter om toch met Interbus te gaan. De weg was heel erg moeilijk, heel veel grote putten in de weg dus de auto moest zeer traag rijden. Wel zeer mooie uitzichten op onze tocht. Echt prachtige groene heuvels. Om 12u30 zijn we toegekomen in Los Pinos, onze laatste verblijfplaats. De luxe hebben we gespaard voor op het einde. We hebben hier echt een huis met 3 slaapkamers + 3 badkamers, keuken, living en tuin. Echt ruim en mooi. Los Pinos ligt ook in een bos waar je een bepaald pad kan volgen zodat je uiteindelijk op een platform terechtkomt waar je een ... read more

We liked living in our log cabin and enjoyed the peace and solitude of the grounds which bordered the cloud forest. There was always plenty of wildlife wandering around the cabin that we were never short of company. If we needed supplies there were a couple of small stores nearby or we could walk down the hill to the tiny town of Santa Elena- although we had the long steep climb to get back from the town to our cabin........We were about 2km from the town in one direction and several Forest Reserves for hiking in the other. I should warn you here before you read on that this is a rather long blog so do not feel obliged to read it all.............. After a morning’s hike it was lovely to relax outside our cabin surrounded ... read more

Monteverde. Monteverde is a small town in a very hilly region of Costa Rica. It is in fact two towns, Santa Elena being the main town tourists visit. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the American gentleman and I were heading over to Monteverde together. We met our shuttle in the morning and it took us to a boat. We took the boat across the river to another shore, which did not even have a dock, where we met another set of shuttles which would take us up into the hills of Monteverde. Despite its hilliness, and it is really steep and hilly, the area around Monteverde is still worked by farmers. Most of the fields had cows who roamed around and grazed freely. The drive, like most in Central America, is not far in ... read more

National parks and zip-lines This year we went to Central America for vacation. We spent three weeks in Costa Rica and one week in Panama. In this blog entry we are going to write about what we did the first couple of days, days when we mainly lurked around in the areas around La Fortuna and Monteverde in the north of Costa Rica. These days we were three people travelling together for a change, instead of two as we usually are. We were Emma, Ake and Anna who is Emma's sister. La Fortuna in situated near the active Arenal Volcano. The volcano started erupting in the end of the 1960-ies and was continuously erupting for more than 40 years until is suddenly stopped little more than a year ago. For many years tours to see the ... read more

Coming from a country that fries and sugarizes every possible food product on the shelf, Costa Rica is a wonderful change of atmosphere. Here the food is essentially delicious from its natural flavors, which leads to a better and healthier food. Although the main ingredients are somewhat basic, the varied mixtures of the ingredients create something different to avoid monotony. For example, the dish gallo pinto is based on a mixture of beans and rice. Today, the addition of onions, eggs and tortillas enhances a simple dish of gallo pinto to a well rounded meal. Another traditional dish that branches off of beans and rice is the casado dish. This dish still has rice and beans, but, in addition, this dish includes a salad, a choice of meat, and a fried plantain for dessert. This natural ... read more