Up at 6.00 AM to leave La Fortuna heading out by jeep to the local lake at the foot of Mt Arenal where we took a boat to one side and picked up two old nags to plod us through the countryside and around the lake to meet up with some more jeeps to take us on up into the town of Monteverde up in the mountains on the west coast of Costa Rica.
Well, nags is about right, as Doug has never been on a horse and I rode very little when younger, we knew this was going to be painful, but we had NO idea just how painful!! Needless to say, sitting down for the next few days proved to be very tender, but it was an excellent way of getting away from everyone and just seeing the countryside with no distractions.
Doug as never seen before
You can't see his pain....!!
There are a fair few tourists in CR but we are trying to stay clear of the big resorts and the places we stay are always out of town which is nice, but the towns have to done!
Anyway, Monteverde is 2 days of exploring, zip lining and taking in the local cloud forest reserve - a true bird lovers paradise so the blurb says.....
Quakers came to the small village of Monteverde in the 1950s and bought and preserved the forest whilst making a reasonable living for themselves. The town has grown somewhat since then but it is still fairly unspoilt and GAP (making up for the lousy hotel in San Jose) have put us up in this luxury place with truly scrumptious views over the mountains and in the far distance, the Pacific. This is such a long narrow country that you forget you can travel from the Caribbean Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in the space of a few days! Anyway, the hotel has 2 pools, massage spa (much needed after expedition on horses....), and just breath-taking views - we are so far up the mountain though that you have to take a shuttle bus from Reception to get to our room.
Enroute to Monteverde
So after some serious R&R, as in drinking and eating (again, now fully recovered from D&V but now have a cold!!!!!!) we were up again at 6.00am for a 3 hr trek through the cloud forest. Beautiful place, and again the guide was sooo enthusiastic and knowledgeable, as they all have been so far. For the birders I am told to report that the following, amongst many many others, are of note: Prong-billed Barbet, Emerald Toucanet, Broad-billed Motmot, Magnificent Frigate and so the list goes on and on - Doug is a very happy man. Also saw some Coatimundis and more sloths (who are just the cutest things you ever saw, ooops almost sounded American for a second there....) Also did a tour around a coffee plantation which was very long but pretty interesting, ended up in bed early with a sudafed!!!!
So this morning I am sitting here writing this before heading out to do some ziplining through the canopy tops. I am pretty scared but felt if I can master rapelling down waterfalls of hundreds of feet, I can master this. Pity I hate heights really eh?. So it starts up a 150ft tower with a 360 degree view over the treetops, then we engage (their words not mine!) 16 cables zipping from platform to platform, over 2 rope bridges, 1 tarzan swing (and I can only fear that I this is what I think it is and I am no Jane....) and 1 rappel. The leaflet tells me that they have insurance policy and experimental guides - which I am assuming they have mis-spelt and mean "experienced"! If not, its been nice knowing you!!!!
Zipling with Erin
Trying to change my mind...
Doug on the tarzan swing
That man is standing on my coffee beans....
If this all goes off well, then we head to the humming bird sanctuary for some gentle time, and tonight it is frog watching in the dark - should be interesting day all in all.
Humming bird 1
Humming bird 2
Red eyed Tree Frog
Tomorrow we move on to Quepos and the Manuel Antonio National Park for yet more wildlife (for Doug I think) as I can get a chance to hit the beach for kayaking, boarding and some snorkelling. Need to get rid of this cold if I want to dive in a weeks time - will be gutted if I can't do it as it was my main reason for coming here (well, almost....)
Sorry this has gone on a bit, unusual to find a country which such good internet facilities although my mobile has been dead since we left so sorry, Sheila, if you have sent texts, will get them when back in Miami.... This is a beautiful country, people are extremely friendly and I would recommend it to anyone. Sadly (or joyous for you lot I should imagine...) only another 12 days to go....
Well, nags is about right, as Doug has never been on a horse and I rode very little when younger, we knew this was going to be painful, but we had NO idea just how painful!! Needless to say, sitting down for the next few days proved to be very tender, but it was an excellent way of getting away from everyone and just seeing the countryside with no distractions.
Doug as never seen before
You can't see his pain....!!
There are a fair few tourists in CR but we are trying to stay clear of the big resorts and the places we stay are always out of town which is nice, but the towns have to done!
Anyway, Monteverde is 2 days of exploring, zip lining and taking in the local cloud forest reserve - a true bird lovers paradise so the blurb says.....
Quakers came to the small village of Monteverde in the 1950s and bought and preserved the forest whilst making a reasonable living for themselves. The town has grown somewhat since then but it is still fairly unspoilt and GAP (making up for the lousy hotel in San Jose) have put us up in this luxury place with truly scrumptious views over the mountains and in the far distance, the Pacific. This is such a long narrow country that you forget you can travel from the Caribbean Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in the space of a few days! Anyway, the hotel has 2 pools, massage spa (much needed after expedition on horses....), and just breath-taking views - we are so far up the mountain though that you have to take a shuttle bus from Reception to get to our room.
Enroute to Monteverde
So after some serious R&R, as in drinking and eating (again, now fully recovered from D&V but now have a cold!!!!!!) we were up again at 6.00am for a 3 hr trek through the cloud forest. Beautiful place, and again the guide was sooo enthusiastic and knowledgeable, as they all have been so far. For the birders I am told to report that the following, amongst many many others, are of note: Prong-billed Barbet, Emerald Toucanet, Broad-billed Motmot, Magnificent Frigate and so the list goes on and on - Doug is a very happy man. Also saw some Coatimundis and more sloths (who are just the cutest things you ever saw, ooops almost sounded American for a second there....) Also did a tour around a coffee plantation which was very long but pretty interesting, ended up in bed early with a sudafed!!!!
So this morning I am sitting here writing this before heading out to do some ziplining through the canopy tops. I am pretty scared but felt if I can master rapelling down waterfalls of hundreds of feet, I can master this. Pity I hate heights really eh?. So it starts up a 150ft tower with a 360 degree view over the treetops, then we engage (their words not mine!) 16 cables zipping from platform to platform, over 2 rope bridges, 1 tarzan swing (and I can only fear that I this is what I think it is and I am no Jane....) and 1 rappel. The leaflet tells me that they have insurance policy and experimental guides - which I am assuming they have mis-spelt and mean "experienced"! If not, its been nice knowing you!!!!
Zipling with Erin
Trying to change my mind...
Doug on the tarzan swing
That man is standing on my coffee beans....
If this all goes off well, then we head to the humming bird sanctuary for some gentle time, and tonight it is frog watching in the dark - should be interesting day all in all.
Humming bird 1
Humming bird 2
Red eyed Tree Frog
Tomorrow we move on to Quepos and the Manuel Antonio National Park for yet more wildlife (for Doug I think) as I can get a chance to hit the beach for kayaking, boarding and some snorkelling. Need to get rid of this cold if I want to dive in a weeks time - will be gutted if I can't do it as it was my main reason for coming here (well, almost....)
Sorry this has gone on a bit, unusual to find a country which such good internet facilities although my mobile has been dead since we left so sorry, Sheila, if you have sent texts, will get them when back in Miami.... This is a beautiful country, people are extremely friendly and I would recommend it to anyone. Sadly (or joyous for you lot I should imagine...) only another 12 days to go....
No comments:
Post a Comment