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Published: November 30th 2011
Monteverde
View from the bus... gorgeous!This post is well overdue and is quite long, however it is well worth the read!
Friday morning we woke bright and early at 5:00 to catch the 6:30 am bus from San Jose to Monteverde. The trip is only about 160 km but it takes 4 hours; this is partly due to factors such as city traffic and multiple stops, but mainly it is because the roads into Monteverde are crazy. The last 18 km of the trip accounted for a whole hour of the travel time! This section of road is extremely narrow with many tight turns and ascents, with a fairly steep drop off on the side! In several places we came to standoffs with approaching vehicles where someone had to back up and make space for the other to pass. It didn't feel dangerous, just slow. On the plus side though, this part of the drive is absolutely gorgeous, and we had lots of time to take in the passing sights as Monteverde began to appear all around us. This area truly lives up to its name, as it is green EVERYWHERE. After 3 weeks in the city it feels like we are now in heaven...
Curvy Road
This pic doesn´t do the twists and turns any justice. and of course the fresh air!
After we arrived in the town of Santa Elena, we checked into our hostel, which is conveniently located directly across from where the bus stops. We settled into our room and set out in search of lunch. This was a relatively easy task as the town is extremely small! We sat down to eat on an outdoor patio and immediately ordered coffees - delicious! A local cat took quite an interest in Chris' meal and nearly pounced a few times - thankfully we met a nice Canadian couple from BC (the husband was an engineer, the ring can be spotted anywhere) who came to our rescue with their walking stick. We haven´t seen that cat since!
We signed up for a highly recommended night tour through the Santa Maria rainforest. Our guide Bernal was extremely knowledgeable and spoke very good english. We hadn´t even entered the forest and he spotted a two-toed sloth. And as he was shining the light on the sloth he saw another small animal called the Kinkajou way back in the trees... it is amazing the ability these guides have to spot animals, especially in the dark! The
Cafe con Leche
Enjoying our first coffees of many in Monteverde Kinkajou is a nocturnal animal and is very rare to spot. It inhabits Central and South America only, so we were very fortunate to see it! We started into the rainforest while it lightly misted... as per Bernal this part of the Monteverde rainforest has 100% humidity almost the entire year! We progressed through the forest stopping to look at many interesting insects, from stick bugs to moths that have translucent wings, spiders that fold up into a long stick and giant ant mounds; the ant mound is apparently the biggest they have yet, estimated to currently have over 2 million ants in the colony! On the way to see the tarantula (yes, a tarantula) we stopped along a path and Bernal got everyone to turn their lights off... he said wait a moment and let your eyes adjust, after about thirty seconds of pure darkness we saw the glow-in-the-dark mushrooms. So fascinating as these can not be seen in the light... they consist of thousands of micro-organisms which produce the light and glow from the luciferin and luciferase, an amazing sight! So back to the tarantula, we arrived at the hole which we approached slowly and quietly, as this
Farmers´ Market
Delicious looking fresh exotic fruits! spider cannot see but acts on sounds and vibrations through the ground. Our guide proceeded to lure the approximately 8-inch round tarantula from the hole... we were merely inches away from it so we got some great photos and videos! So, what could possibly be a predator of the tarantula? Well naturally, the Tarantula Hawk (essentially a wasp). The wasp attacks the tarantula, stings it, injects a paralyzer and the tarantula cannot move; however, it is still alive. The wasp then lays eggs on the spider's abdomen; once the eggs hatch the baby wasps feed internally on the tarantula (a process that takes 8 days while the spider is still alive)! So, that being said... we enjoyed the tour!
Saturday morning we were joined by our friend Leanne (from Scarborough!) who had already been living on the coffee farm for a week. We started out early to check out the local farmers' market, which was smaller than expected! Leanne bought some fresh fruits and we left to get breakfast to satisfy our growling stomachs. We searched for a local place that served a greasy spoon type breakfast and the best we did was a quaint little coffee house called
Coffee Face
If you look closely, there are 3! the Common Cup. We ate our delicious breakfast and then smelled the amazing aroma. We noticed the owner Geiner roasting coffee beans right in front of us... the smell was glorious! We asked him simply what he was doing and he proceeded to give us a 30 minute explanation on how to roast coffee beans... Our own personal tour! Chris was even able to help Geiner weigh the beans and pour then into the roasting machine. We purchased one pound of beans with our personalized label... An amazing start to a soon to be unforgettable day!
So at 10:30 we were off to our canopy tour for some zip-lining through the Monteverde rainforest. We were told the best one was 100% Aventura and they had a total of 12 zip lines including one called Superman. On this one we were harnessed in and hung solely by the pulleys on our backs. If you picture it we were essentially suspended in the air with our hands spread in front of us, traveling at a speed of about 60-70 km/h, roughly 500 feet above the ground, free as a bird... Truly an extreme adventure! However that was still not the apex
Unroasted Beans @ Common Cup
The colour changes in the last 2 minutes of roasting. of the canopy excursion... The last adventure was called the Tarzan swing. I was absolutely dead set against doing the 150 ft free fall jump which also included multiple swings from the attached bungee. Both Liz and Leanne provided the encouragement and pressure for me to do it as I walked out onto the suspended bridge above the canopy line. The next thing I knew I was off the bridge and free falling toward the ground... Definitely the most exhilarating thing I have ever done! Liz followed me and kept her composure quite well through it all. It was all over in a matter of seconds but it was an unforgettable experience we shared together!
We headed back to Santa Elena for lunch on the private balcony of a local soda where we watched hummingbirds feeding from a honey feeder. We enjoyed another great casado and headed back to hostel for some relaxation. We finished the night by having a great north American dinner of pizza and nachos.
The next morning we packed our bags and set out to Arenal in hopes of seeing the famous volcano... but that is a story for our next post!
All
Roasted Beans @ Common Cup
If only we could upload the aroma! our love... Chris & Liz
p.s. Happy belated Birthday Monique! We were thinking of you on Saturday and hope you had an amazing day 😊
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Mum
non-member comment
Living vicariously is good enough for me!!
Are you actually working on a coffee plantation or are you totally free now? Wish I could have seen that sloth! What a great tour at night (but not sure I'd have wanted to do it)... especially I wouldn't be zip lining or free falling, however, I am quite sure you guys will always remember it and be glad you did it. Mostly I wish I could have smelled that coffee being roasted. So cool that you have your own now. The countryside in Monteverde looks lush and gorgeous; the narrow twisty roads remind me exactly of roads in Devon, Norwich, and "the North"(of England)as they call it. Love hearing all about everything, so keep it all coming... just be careful - I'm saying this to zip-liners and freefallers?!!! Love you, miss you, Mum xo