Monteverde and the Road to Drake Bay

I was right, the hot springs really were pretty spectacular.

The road from La Fortuna to Monteverde is one of the rockiest pot-holiest, stretches of dirt I've ever seen. I'll see if I can figure out how to post the video on YouTube when I get back. It's pretty funny. Exhausted and well shooken up, we finally arrived in Monteverde and we're greeted at the Pension Santa Elena hostel with open arms. Huge thanks to Nuri and Myla for the recommendation, they were fabulous. While in Monteverde, we did a twilight hike through the cloud forest, the tree-top canopy tour zip-lines, and a Coffee tour.

The twilight hike was through the Children's Eternal Rain Forest. Walking through the cloud forest after dark is a great way to see some nocturnal wildlife. Although we didn't see any mammals (nor a Resplendent Quetzal), we did see some excellent bugs, spiders, sleeping birds, and bats. It was also a hoot just tromping through the rain in the dark (no, really, it was!).

The next morning we woke up early for the canopy tour. Myshelle was incredibly nervous, as that she's terrified of heights. She can't even go on the ferris wheel at the fair. We got all geared up and climbed into the trees. I'm still not sure why, but once we were up there, Myshelle's fears disappeared. She was soaring through the sky (up to 60Kph) both through the tree-tops as well as over them. Granted, you wouldn't actually see a Resplendent Quetzel unless you smacked face-first into one, but oh-boy is it fun. After the zip-lines (two hours of them!) we did the suspension bridge hike as well. Basically it's a trail along the ridge with bridges criss-crossing over the valley below. Very cool. We're pretty sure we saw a couple howler monkeys in the trees but they were far away so I can't be sure.

We got back into town in time for the Coffee tour. Monteverde is home to a collective of farmers that have formed a coffee co-op and we enjoyed a 4 hour tour. Our guide Broulio grew up in the town and was incredibly knowledgeable. We got to meet one of the farmers and check out her farm. The red berries are a popular sweet treat for local kids. We learned about the entire process from drying to roasting and even drinking! I have to admit, it was one of the tastiest cups of coffee I've ever had; certainly the freshest.

After that was another long and bumpy drive to Quepos on the Pacific coast. We're spending the night and catching our breath and we'll continue on to Drake Bay tomorrow morning at 5. I'm really looking forward to relaxing on the beach for a while. Our adventure has been amazing so far, but also tiring. The idea of just sitting on the beach (and maybe doing a little hiking and scuba diving) sounds just right. I don't know if there will be internet or phone access while we're there so I may be incommunicado for a while.

Miss ya.

/Aaron