Costa Rica - Part 2: Monteverde Cloud Forest

Day 3 - Thursday, June 11

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel again (it was included) and then headed for the Monteverde Cloud Forest after checking La Fortuna (which we had never gotten around to going to).


This drive was a little worse than the first one because most of it was unpaved and bumpy. Although, we seemed to be getting used to the crazy drivers, people passing each other, one lane roads, pedestrians and dogs in the road, etc... My favorite part of the drive was in Tilaran when we took a wrong turn (because the paved road turned and we assumed that it was the correct way to go since there was no sign). When we took the wrong turn, a guy immediately ran out onto the road like he was waiting for us and told us which way to go and tried to sell us a map. I had read on-line about this guy! This was the guy that took down signs and sold you an unneeded map. I read somewhere that if you took the turn where he told you to, the rest of the route was well marked with signs (that no one had ripped the arrows off of). So Travis listened to his spiel, then said no thank you and took his advice on the first turn. The Internet was correct, the rest of the drive was easy to follow without the map. Travis should be so proud, we just got married and I'm already saving him money.




Once again we stopped at a soda shop on the side of the road for lunch. It's interesting to stop in somewhere that's not crowded with tourists and for me, it's a nice driving break (well, riding break). When ordering here, I was determined to get something other than a typical meal of rice and beans (they even served rice with breakfast). I finally decided on a chicken sandwich and some french fries. Travis also liked that idea, so he ordered the same. Guess what, we got the same meal. That's right, one chicken sandwich and one order of fries. I finally got something other than rice and beans and I had to split it with Travis. It's a good thing that it was large portions anyway.

While in Monteverde, we stayed in a cabin at a place called El Sol.


http://www.elsolnuestro.com/


The cabin was really nice and spacious –



- and the views were spectacular. We were above the clouds in the cloud forest, there were horses and cows wandering around, and there was a pool just for us (well, and I guess whoever else was staying there, but she only has two cabins and we never saw any other guests).

When we got settled in the cabin, I heard something moving around on the roof... it seemed to be about monkey size, so I bravely went out on the porch to investigate. As I was peering around, an animal turned the corner and scared the crap out of me! Turns out, it was their cat – which we later found out was named Cat Stevens. He was nice to have around and cuddled with us all evening.

Before going to El Sol, I had read on the web site that we could have dinner delivered to our cabin by the neighbors, so we planned to do this. Of course it was a typical meal, but this would have to do since town was 15 minutes away and when I planned the trip, I didn't realize that I would be sick of this food. This meal was a little better than the rest though, there was a wider variety of typical foods, like the pickled peppers (that I did not try). By the time we got dinner, I was pretty hungry so there is no picture, but it was delivered in a picnic basket and was really cute.

I spent the rest of the night reading my book (My Sister's Keeper). Travis spent his killing the larger insects for me (think marble to thumb size). We figured out later to not turn on the light by the window because it attracts the bugs.

Day 4 – Friday, June 12

Since El Sol recommended to go to the cloud forest early if we wanted to see animals (and we were waking up early anyway), we had them switch our guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest tour from 1:30pm to 7:30am.

http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/monteverde.htm

I originally read this advice on-line, but thought, it's our honeymoon – we'll want to sleep in, not set an alarm. I'm glad we changed it – it was worth the alarm. We got up early and left in time to eat breakfast at Stella’s bakery, where we both got omelets.

When we got to the forest, we paid (and I was glad that they were expecting us that early – El Sol had changed our reservation) and then we watched a video while we waited for our tour guide. We were lucky, we got a really good tour guide. The first thing he showed us was a tarantula – it lived in a hole in a tree and he used a flash light to point it out. He then took us to see the hummingbirds before other tourists showed up and the area where the feeders were got busy.

They were cool, but I wanted to see monkeys. We then spent the next 30 minutes looking for a quetzal - the word sounds like pretzel, but with a Q. I almost got disappointed because we were not finding one and I felt like we were wasting time which we could use to see something else... like monkeys. However, it turned out that Travis and I were the first to spot one. He said that he saw it, but didn't say anything. Then, when I saw it, I asked the guide (out of boredom) what it was. It turns out that it was what we were looking for, who would have thought? It didn't seem that cool to me, but I guess it's a big deal there – it's the national bird. This is a picture that is taken using the guide's scope.

We then walked around the forest some and he showed us a really cool tree.

It's called a strangler fig tree. Apparently, it grows around another plant and smothers it. Because of this, it ends up being a tree that is hollow on the inside. The cool part is that if you're small enough, you can squeeze between its branches/trunk and go inside of it.

Travis' shoulders were too broad to make it, but I fit and I got a picture from the inside.

It was really cool – I was the only one that fit inside it in our group (my head barely made it, I had to turn it sideways), so I had the inside of the tree all to myself. Here's Travis looking at me while I'm in the tree.

We also climbed a nearby vine for a photo op...

It was shortly after that when the monkeys showed up. We had heard them in the distance, and then all of a sudden, there were about 5-10 howler monkeys above us. It's hard to see them in the picture, but there are a few of them crossing a tree branch.

They were moving across the trail that we were on and the best part is that they were being followed by a group of spider monkeys. We got to stand there and watch two groups of monkeys travel by. It was funny to watch the smaller howler monkeys “yell” at the larger spider monkeys. It reminded me of a younger sibling whining about an older sibling picking on it. The guide took a picture of a spider monkey for me with the scope (they stayed in the area longer)... and if you look closely, you can see it in the picture that I took.

The monkeys were really cute, but also mischievous. They like to sit above people and shake/throw branches down at them. There was one monkey in particular doing this to our group. He never hit us, but he was determined and kept trying. We saw some weird insects after that, but the monkeys were definitely the highlight of the morning.

After the tour, we had lunch at the Tree House – it's a neat “tourist restaurant” that surrounds a tree.

The clouds moved in and it started to rain while we were eating (which is why I'm really glad that we went to see the forest in the morning), so we picked an inside activity for the afternoon. We walked around the stores in town and then decided to see the frogs at The Monteverde Frog Pond. We had our own tour guide and wandered around looking at the frogs. Finding the frogs (even though they were in small terrariums) was like a Where's Waldo game. They were all really good at camouflaging themselves.

http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/monteverde/frog-pond.htm

While we were in town, we stopped at the grocery store and bought sandwich stuff for dinner so that we wouldn't have to drive back into town. Once we got back to El Sol, the clouds rolled in, then there was a beautiful sunset.

That night, we hung out and attempted crossword puzzles while watching a thunderstorm that was below us. That's right, we were at a high elevation (and it was a cloud forest) so there was lightning below us. It was really weird to watch...