10. The discovery of batidos de mango en leche
I cannot rave enough about these. Picture this: Costa Rican mangos (so juicy, sweet, etc.), add milk, add ice, add blender. Put in glass at the end of the day. Drink. I had so many. I was so, so happy.
9. The buses to and from Monteverde
Always a fan of mass transit, I especially appreciate the efficiency of the Costa Rica system. Oh wait, did I say efficiency? I mean, I love how cheap it is. Five dollars for a five hour bus ride that is only 100 miles! The seats are mega-cozy and you can open the windows and just watch the country go by. The way there was direct and I got a good nap and we took two breaks — perfect for me with a small bladder. On the way home, we had a four hour stretch and I had to get out and pee behind a tree on the side of the road. But more about that trip later.
8. Santa Elena Cloud Forest
Our first full day in Monteverde, we took an 8:30 bus to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest (bosque nuboso), so called because the high altitude and humidity makes the forest look like you are literally in the clouds. We opted to not take a tour and just hiked around and looked at things all morning. I want to say I was mega impressed, but mostly, it was green and foggy and lots of centipedes. Still outrageously beautiful, though, and a great morning.
El bosque nuboso in the early morning
Dylan finds some pretty flowers.
7. Monteverde as a town
Finally, a place where people will speak in Spanish to us. Monteverde, although overrun by tourists (the town itself is only 5000 people), is super cozy and very accommodating and affordable.
And there are so many friendly dogs!
6. The night tour of Monteverde
The day we explored the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, we also signed up for a night tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest (essentially the same thing; different part of town). It was magnificent. We took flashlights into the woods and saw sleeping birds, bats, bugs, a million spiders, gorgeous flowers. What was really impressive, though, was how the forest sounds when it is sleeping. Every few stops we turned off all our lights and, in absolute darkness, just listened.
Hello, I am a bat.
5. Monteverde Backpacker's Hostel
Our hostel was so good to us! We only paid $10 a night, but they booked us tours with transportation, fed us breakfast, gave us coffee and let us leave our stuff after we checked out. Dylan, Jeff, Liz and I shared a room totally furnished in wood with three beds (Liz and I snuggled in the double) and a huge bathroom and shower. It was an awesome deal.
Jeff, Liz, Dylan and I get coffee, papaya and tomato sandwiches for breakfast!
4. The canopy tour
On Monday, before busing back, we signed up for a "canopy tour" through the hostel. Not really sure what it was, we got in a van at 7:30 Monday morning at went to something with the word "extreme" in its name. Turns out it was a series of zip lines — like thirteen in total — spanning almost a mile through the cloud forest, with some light hiking in between. The shortest were just connectors between trees and the longest ones spanned valleys where the cows below were the size of pennies. In the middle there were "surprises" — a swing a la the Ripcord at Worlds of Fun. The guides pushed people off the ledge of the swing, screamed "NO!" pretending you went too early, told you it was going to be terrible and you should leave, and so on. The grand finale was a line you rode like a bird, arms outstretched, in between two mountains.
The top harnesses were super flattering.
3. The Pacific Ocean
Right, so: Monteverde is in the middle of the country. Unfortunately, when you don't buy a bus ticket for the last bus that leaves for San Jose before you have to leave, they sell out. More fortunately, you can still take a bus to Puntarenas and hopefully catch a ride home from there! That bus to Puntarenas takes three hours (we left at 3 p.m.) and the last bus from there for San Jose leaves at 7 p.m. Well, there had been flooding in the area, and maybe a wreck or something, and we stopped in standstill traffic until 8 p.m. I like adventures too much to not have been pretty excited about this. In Puntarenas, dropped off in the sketchy part of town after dark with no idea what we could do, we went to get dinner and then walked on the beach. The water was so warm and there was a lightning storm at sea that periodically illuminated the whole sky. I have never felt warm ocean before. I was thinking I could add Puntarenas to my list of places I ended up sleeping when I messed up my travel plans (Boston, Moline, Oklahoma City, etc.) but I always end up luckier than I am expecting: there was a bus at 9 after all, and it was nearly empty so we all got our own seats to stretch out.
2. Climbing the hollow tree
Liz and Dylan and I were done with Santa Elena after our hike, so we bused back early. On the way back to town we met a guy from Texas who gaves us directions to go find this tree: "Go past the church and go on the path." Totally unfamiliar with the town, I stopped for more directions in a tour place:
"Queremos ir a un lugar donde se puede subir un arbol. Sabe Ud. donde esta?" We're looking for a place to climb this one tree. Do you know where it is?
Looking at me stupidly, in perfect English, he says, "What have you been smoking?"
After finally explaining what we're thinking, he draws us a crude map and sends us on our way. After walking straight uphill half a mile in the sun (you should see how red my shoulders are), we got to the woods where we hiked until we reached a huge grove of trees. In the area, there are some trees that have been strangled by plants that cover them on the outside. The original tree rots away in the middle, leaving only the intertwined outer branches of the strangler. There were several of these, but one in particular, about 70 feet tall, had a perfectly sized center. Liz and I climbed up the middle until the tube came to an opening at the top. Dylan went most of the way. The next day when we went back, I was brave enough to crawl out on top of the tree and look out over the valley. Matthew, with us this time, actually jumped on braches to go up another fifteen feet and apparently could see forever. I was terrified, but I have this theory that anything that scares me is even more important to do. It was the best part of the trip and the cheapest. And the dirtiest — I climbed barefoot in shorts and my legs are a battle zone. Two showers and I still haven't gotten all the dirt off.
The view up our tree!
Me, inside.
1. When Mauricio picked me (and three others) up from sketchy downtown San Jose at midnight
This just has to win. My host father came to the bus stop for me at midnight (so not in his contract as a host parent) and also took the others who live in Sabanilla. We avoided the $30 taxi and got home quickly and safely. The first thing my host family told me was that they have hearts of serving, but I have never seen people who live this out so much. I am, as always, surprisingly, incredibly, blessedly, so lucky.
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