Adios to Tortuguero and Hola to Monteverde

-

I remember very clearly waking up on this last morning and hearing the howler monkeys. I hadn't heard them before, so either I totally ignored them or didn't realize what they were. Once I realized, I was so glad I did have the experience of hearing this incredible sound. 

I think this is a Kingfisher, snapped after breakfast (mine, not his). 

After breakfast, I reluctantly took the boat across the river (the shortest commute to an airport EVER), I met the man who runs the airstrip, weighed my luggage and waited. What are the odds that I would be the only one on the plane? (hint: they rapidly decreased over the next 15 minutes). As I waited for the plane, I walked across the airstrip and over to the beach. How often can you do that?  




Flying over volcanoes, one day I hope to go to that region of the country and not just fly over it. After arriving in San Jose, I was met by my new driver and guide and we set off for the three plus hour drive to Monteverde. It was long, but I saw more of the country. We took Highway 1 (or CA-1) that goes from Panama up to Canada (I may have said that incorrectly, but I don't think so). It was pretty scenic and my guide pointed out different things along the way, scenery and historical/cultural information. We arrived at my next destination around 11:00/11:30, they dropped me off, adios, and I checked in.

My room was down a flight and a half of stairs (no elevator, which normally isn't a problem, but damn, that suitcase felt heavy at the end of my stay). I fell in love with my room right away. I loved the little patio; it was a lovely way to start the morning or end the day. The bed was comfy too. There was no television here either, which was really okay. I polished off an e-book whilst sitting on the patio, and on the grounds. 


After I had lunch (more on the food later, but I was not disappointed), I walked a mile (or less?) into town and to the Frog Pond. Personally, I thought it was a little pricey ($20 US), but I could have gone back later in the day to take advantage of the nocturnal behavior of the frogs. The Frog Pond doesn't capture any more frogs due to ecological laws and rules now in place, but they do breed them. We had a guide who told us about the different frogs and helped point them out because some of those buggers love to hide. I'm really not a frog person, and I think I saw more frogs in 8 days than in my entire life. If this is your thing, then I highly recommend it. It was easy to walk to from the lodge, but it was hilly and hot; if you go further down, you get into the town center. 


Can see you the eyes?He's happy to see us.
One of the residents. I'm not sure what that is and I couldn't find it online.

After my first day, I had a wonderful meal featuring some incredible mozzarella burrata with confit beetroot as an appetizer; sea bass for my entree and then a coffee flan for dessert. 
  
Not bad for my first day in Monteverde.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An introduction to Chile starts in Santiago

-
Image
I’ve been planning my trip to Easter Island and Punta Arenas for about a year. I hadn’t given much thought to my time in Santiago. I really thought I would be too tired to do much, but I guess the benefit of only a two hour time difference is I wasn’t too exhausted. I couldn’t check into the hotel until three so I had about four hours to wander around. Lucky for me Sky Costanera was a five minute walk. Sky Costanera is the tallest building in South America and has some amazing views of the Andes, Cerra San Cristóbal and all over Santiago. I just walked to Cenco Costanera which is a massive shopping center, went to the lower level, bought my ticket and ten minutes later was heading up to the 61st floor and then the 62nd floor which was open on the top. I love my tall buildings, and I loved it that it was not crowded at all. There is a restaurant and a little gift shop, but not a lot else.  A view of San Cristobal On day two I took the hop on hop off bus which was an easy way to navi...
Read more

Chicago - Stuffed Pizza, Michael Jordan, the Bean....

-
Image
After four days with my brother in Minnesota, we headed off to Chicago for the Peter Gabriel/Sting concert. I've mentioned before that I like to plan and my brother is a "let's see how it goes" kind of guy. We did have sort of an idea where we wanted to go, but there is so much to do and see and eat in Chicago, I wanted to make sure he had a great visit. We stayed at a hotel near the Midway airport which had a free shuttle to the Orange Line connection at the airport which worked perfectly for us (when I booked the tickets I had NO idea that Taste of Chicago was going on, which is why hotels in the city were booked or really expensive). My brother had not been on a plane in about 10 years, so he was super excited and really wanted a window seat; it was like he was 10 years old again. We got to the hotel and ordered pizza from Giordano's, which was extremely cheesy, but also filling enough for us to finally head into downtown. Chicago is a lot bigger than Cleveland...
Read more

Flying Solo

-
Image
I've had a couple of big trips in the last six, seven months, and I'm planning the next one, or two. I don't want to say too much about it until I get some more things finalized. What I will say is I hope it includes China. That's all I'll say. Every time I take a trip or plan one, my friends ask if I'm going by myself. There's an eye roll, and then "Yes, I am.". Even people who know the answer usually still ask the question; those who don't know the answer are usually surprised, some are in awe. "Aren't you scared?" "Don't you get lonely?" and variations on that theme. A few things: you're never really alone unless you are in some totally remote location, which has not been the case for me; if you can't stand your own company for a few days, a solo trip might be just what you need; I do my best to not put myself in scary situations, like not hiking into war zones, or walking in potentially dangerous areas (w...
Read more