Monteverde trip

Sightseeing time. My first in Costa Rica. Destination? The famous Monteverde Cloud Forest where I was promised a hike in the clouds, a walk on suspended bridges above the forest canopy .. and maybe, maybe (if I wanted) a return form the forest zip-lining. WOW.

Monteverde has it all, best and highest zip-lining in Latin America, adrenaline kicks for the adventurous ones, butterflies and hummingbirds for the little ones and walks/hikes for families. And, of course, tons of restaurants, bars and a ‘nightclub’.

After delayed the early planned-start, traffic jams, roadblocks and a serious mountain climb (you need a four-wheel drive for that) we arrived in the village at about 2 p.m. Late. Too late for the hikes. Too late for many other adventures. Three hours of remaining daylight didn’t give us much time to see or do very much exploring. Sun sets early in Costa Rica.  And there were few other things we needed to do before the fun could begin, like having lunch and finding a bed for the night. First things first. After driving around the village (or rather few blocks) about ten times, we found the beds … in a hostel…

…Well, the beds were in private rooms, still, it was my first hostel experience. Ever. Did I enjoy it? Hmm, it was ok. Would I do it again? In a private room? I would. Would it be my first choice? Perhaps not. 

Too late for suspended bridges and zip-lining.  We settled for a night walk in the forest and postponed the bridges to the following morning. The van picked us up at 5.30 p.m. (mind you the sun sets in Costa Rica at 5.15 p.m. so the night has already begun at 5.30) and took us to an assembly point. After having signed the liability waiver (in case something would bite or stung us), armored with flashlights we entered the pitch black forest. 

The two-hour tour was somewhat on a tourist trap side but I liked it just the same. It was fun walking up and down tiny forest paths with a flashlight as the only light source. (If nothing else) it was a good exercise. Not too scary. In fact, not scary at all but I wouldn’t do it on my own.

We got to see sloth mamma with her baby hanging from a tree getting settled for the night, viper snake, tarantula hidden in a hole of a tree trunk, red-eyed tree frog and few other small animals I no longer remember the name of. I enjoyed it. We all did. I would have enjoyed it even more if I only could use my speedlight camera flash, But I couldn’t. The animals wouldn’t appreciate it, the guide said. Still, it was a very enjoyable and different experience for a city slicker like myself. But, if this is not adventurous enough for you, do the walk in the rain or just after. If you’re ‘lucky’, you might find walking up and down slippery paths more fun, perhaps even more than you can take or bargained for. (Note: you may not touch any branches as one never knows what’s hiding there. The waiver. Remember?)

The tour ended at 8 p.m. Party time. However, walking up and down in the forest made us all tired, so we decided on skipping the party, grabbing a bite to eat and call it a day, there is always tomorrow – we’d try again early next morning. An hour later we could hardly make 100 meters back to the hostel. It was raining, and it was windy. Very, very windy. Storm.

I could hear the raging wind throughout the night. I woke up though to a beautiful sunshine. Perfect day for hiking, walking suspended bridges above the forest canopy and zip-lining. We went down for breakfast (yes free breakfast at the hostel) only to discover there was no electricity and that it was still drizzling and windy. We figured the wind was bringing in the droplets from the wet forest. No biggy. Off we went … only to find out the bridges and zip-lining shut down for the day. As did our alternative attractions; the butterflies and hummingbirds. All attractions and the town itself shut down due to the wind and power outage. Oh well. 

We went to the closest beach instead, I wanted to dip my toe in the Pacific – in Puntarenas. Puntarenas is not a paradise destination, far from it. Black sand, black ocean, music on full blast. We had late lunch and drove off back to San Jose stopping on the way at Caldera beach to watch the sunset. 

There is always a next time, isn’t there? And the freezing cold wind is still blowing a storm five days later, not only in Monteverde but also in San Jose. Time to leave Costa Rica.  

Monteverde Forest

Sunset at Caldera Beach