874. Monteverde

Where: Monteverde, Costa Rica
When: June 24 - 26, 2009
With: Dave

After leaving La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano, we made our way west into the mountains, to the cloud-covered rainforests of Monteverde. Sitting 4,600 feet above sea level, this combination of private forests and wildlife reserves is teeming with all kinds of birds, insects and plants. 

The two main activities (of many) that people come to Monteverde for are the ziplining (it actually started here!) and the canopy walks, where suspension bridges allow you to walk among the tree tops of the rainforests. Dave was really excited about the additional height-related activities on our docket. 

Upon arriving in our home base of Santa Elena though, we were informed over lunch that unfortunately, the entrance to the canopy walks would be closing in the next 30 minutes. While we could do a canopy walk the next day, time restraints would require that we do the ziplining associated with the canopy walk. While this may sound all well and good, our guide added that the way better ziplining was with a different company. Therefore, if we wanted the better ziplining course, we'd have to forgo the canopy walk.

This simply would not do for Dave and I (well really, me, because Dave wasn't too keen on ziplining in the first place). We asked our guide how long it would take to get to the canopy walks: 20 minute cab ride. We scarfed our lunch down in one gulp, ran out the door and found ourselves a cab as quickly as possible (a feat in the tiny one-road town). It was a race against the clock, but we made it with minutes to spare and were the last ones to enter the park. One of our first true travel accomplishments that we high-fived ourselves over for years to come. 

The fact that we showed up late in the day meant we had the trails pretty much to ourselves. It was quiet except for the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves above us. An easy path carved its way through the impossibly high trees and dense forest. 

There were six bridges of varying lengths along the two hour trail. Each one offered breathtaking views of the tree tops. 

It was really cool to go from walking the bottom of a jungle floor to soaring over the treetops within a few steps. The mountainous terrain was just so diverse. 

While it was easy to be distracted by the larger than life trees surrounding our heads, having a closer look off the trails yielded some pretty interesting things as well. Lots of insects and flowers. 

This particular flower is called "labios de la prostituta". I'll leave that translation to you. 

Even the trees themselves seemed unique and different, covered in all kinds of moss and plants. And everywhere, a million shades of green. 

Being on the trail alone left us to discover things, but sometimes a guide would have been useful. Like when we thought we should move this furry catepillar or colorful centipede off the trail. Luckily we did neither, and later discovered how poisonous the catepillar is and that the centipede will emit a noxious gas if tampered with. We learned then that nature is best left undisturbed. 

On the last bridge of the walk, my eye caught a beautiful flurry of feathers flying among the treetops. With the zoom on my camera, I could confirm what I had suspected: I had spotted the incredibly rare, but famous, quetzcal bird. Named for its beautifully rich, green tail feathers, this sighting is a rare and lucky one for visitors to Costa Rica, and we definitely felt fortunate to have spotted it on our own. 

High-fives for the canopy walk!

After walking among the trees, it was time to dine among them back in Santa Elena. The restaurant Treehouse is literally built around a giant trees, whose branches provide indoor foliage for guests eating. While the restaurant is more famous for its novelty rather than food, we still had a great time here. 

The next morning, we were up early for a guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Named, literally, for the almost ever-present clouds that enshrine this forest, it was similar to our walk from the day before, minus the bridges. Everywhere we looked, it was green, green green. 

The guide was able to spot lots of things we never would have noticed. The masters of disguise were easily the stick bugs whose bodies mimicked the shape of the branches to hide themselves. 

Our guide also pointed out a hummingbird nest full of chicks and some other colorful birds hiding in the trees. 

This group of caterpillars teamed up in a line to trick any potential predators into thinking they are a snake. 

It was a beautiful morning, and the clouds were luckily at bay, allowing us to see up into the highest treetops. 

This unusual plant is called the "monkey's tail". I think you can guess why. 

Back at the base, we got to see some of the local hummingbirds in full action, thanks to this feeder set up for all to see. 

 The time then came for Dave and I to part ways. He decided that the last few days had more than tested his limits with heights, and he'd like an afternoon with his feet firmly on the ground. Therefore, he went off to explore Santa Elena, while I took on one of the most extreme ziplining courses in all of Costa Rica. 

This is where a group tour can be great. While Dave sat this one out, I still had plenty of people to fly through the treetops with. 

However, the clouds that had been absent that morning more than made up for themselves in the form of a raging rainstorm. However, that's no reason not to zipline, so provided there was no lightning, we were on. Again, we were suited up with helmet, harness and gloves, and set off onto the track. 

Zipling was so different from waterfall rapelling. Whereas waterfall rapelling is a slow release from a tall platform where you hope the rope will catch you, ziplining is like a running jump and before you see how high you are, you are flying through the tree tops without a care in the world. It was amazing. The rain didn't even slightly hamper the experience. If anything, it felt more wild and free. 

Now there were a few reasons our guide touted this as his favorite zipline course, but the entire time, he refused to give any details as to why. About halfway through the course, we started to discover the reasons. First, we rapelled off a platform to the ground, except unlike our waterfall experience, the guide basically let us freefall on our rope, catching us just before we hit the bottom. We then walked towards a giant platform where an actual Tarzan-swing had been set up. While this doesn't seem scary, I would say it was the most terrifying jump I made all day. There's a half-second of free fall where you hope the rope catches you before you go flinging back and forth. My scream was less Tarzan, and more shriek. 

 

 The final run of the course was the other reason the GAP guide highly recommended this course. Whereas most runs are 30-50 feet away from each other, the last run of this course is over a kilometer long. Not to mention, the run rides over the top of a canyon, so the ground is way way wayy beneath you. 

To get to this final run, we had to climb quite a few steps up to a platform carved into the side of the hill. 

The views over the canyon to the other side were stunning. 

To get up on the rope, you needed to stand on two very slippery rails and literally hop into the air, hoping the guide could hook you onto the line on the way. Once up, they advise you to let the speed carry you across...otherwise, you're stuck out over the canyon with no momentum to get you across. 

Here goes nothing!

There I go!

The views were spectacular. Mountains ahead, mountains behind, and lots of cows in the green canyon below. 

 At the end, we were all completely soaked, but all smiles. It was amazing. 

Meanwhile, back in the town, Dave had a very exciting afternoon at the reptile house playing with my camera. Neither of us regretted our decisions. 

After dinner, we continued to explore Santa Elena. Since Dave hadn't had enough of reptiles, we went to a Frog House to see the frogs of Costa Rica.  This was basically lots and lots of poisonous, colorful frogs that you can wander around and see in their little glass houses. 

Despite sounding like a quiet evening, it proved to be quite adventurous. They ran out of flashlights by the time we arrived, and while that seemed like no big deal, our guide casually pointed out all the tarantula nests occupying the edges of the pathway. Holy crap. Then he casually pointed out one of the many scorpions that also call this place their home. Oh yes, let's bend his tail back and then release him into a crowd of tourists, only half of which have flashlights by which to see him. That sounds smart. 

We survived the Frog House without any doses of venom and made our way to a local bar. One of my favorite parts of life in Costa Rica was that dogs can pretty much go anywhere. And this one very much became my friend. We had a few beers together.

The death defying was not over for our evening yet though. After hearing there was a karaoke bar up the road, we went in search of more beers and good tunes. However, when we arrived at the large, beat up warehouse, it was clear that this was not the easy going karaoke bar we anticipated, but instead a fully local Costa Rican hang out. All the songs were in Spanish, but we decided it would be fun to hang out and have a beer regardless. 

While the crowd seemed not-the-friendliest, we didn't feel too unsafe. Until Dave went to the bathroom, where a young gentleman told him that he would "cut" him. Yes, that's right, someone threatened to slice Dave in Costa Rica. 

Dave casually came back from the bathroom, picked up his beer, and told me this story. So casually, in fact, I thought he was lying. Once I realized how serious he was, I wanted to turn tail and literally run out of the bar. But Dave insisted, while casually sipping his beer, that no, he had paid for his beer, and he would finish it. Needless to say, Dave did not get "cut", though we were terrified the entire walk home. An unfortunate way to spend our last wander through the town of Santa Elena. 

I think for Monteverde, I'll stick to the adventure activities as they seem to be the safest. A beautiful place (just bring a flashlight and don't sing karaoke).