Thursday 10 April 2008

We are woken early by the howling monkeys and the volcanoes thunder. After the buffet breakfast we are off to the Hanging bridges. This is walking track through the rainforest and across deep valleys over hanging bridges. The tracks are very easy to walk and more or less paved. Sometimes it is a bit to tidy, but the views from the bridges on the forest canopy is great. We are at the same level as the tree tops and those trees are 40 metres high.  At the entrance we are welcomed by a couple of Blue Macaws. The walk takes about an hour and a half. During the walk we see a group of howlers jumping from tree to tree. After the walk we have a drink at the Arenal Lodge, a hotel near the hanging bridges. The hotel is widely advertised, but past the gate off the main road it is still a steep climb by car to the mountain top. Once there the view and the gardens are very nice and the volcano is in full sight. The staff is less than helpful. They are still busy clearing the breakfast mess (it is 11.30 already) and they do not feel much like helping us to a drink.  We then drive and look for the botanical gardens near the village of Nuevo Arenal. It is a long long drive along the Arenal lake and then we cannot find the place!  We head back to our hotel and have lunch. Just before lunch time the clouds around the volcano clear and we can see it in its full beauty. Fumes are coming from the crater. After half an hour the mountain is in the clouds again. After lunch we go to  Baldi Hot Springs. This is something difficult to describe. It is a big park with thermal baths, Jacuzzis, swim up bars and a tropical garden with a view on the Arenal. There are three zones: one party zone with loud music., a quieter zone and a quiet zone, where you can only hear the birds and the volcano. We spend most of the time in the quiet zone. It all looks very artificial. The staff is - apart from the guy showing us around when we enter - is slow and uninterested. The silence is also broken by construction activities for a hotel building and a artificial cascade in the quiet zone. The silliest thing was that you had to pay cash at the swim up bar. How do you get your wallet to the bar dry? After 2 hours we have seen enough. We drive back to the hotel. This time we are getting a buffet dinner. Not bad, but yeah it is like buffets come...over cooked veggies and dull meat. After dinner we explore the hotels pool and Jacuzzi.

Weather: sunny, cloudy at times. 28°C / 82°F

Friday 11 April 2008

La Fortuna - Monteverde: 136km / 85 mi (4,5 hours)

After breakfast we head west along the northern shores of the Arenal Lake. The roads well paved, but very winding and going up and down. From time to time we have a very nice view of the lake. After 40 minutes we get to Nuevo Arenal, the village where the people of the old Arenal village were moved when there place was flooded because of the hydroelectric dam. We have coffee and cake at the German bakery and take out money at the ATM. We continue rounding the lake to Tilaran. From here  the roads are unpaved and are full of rocks and potholes. Slowly but surely we reach  Monteverde around noon. On our way there we enjoy the scenery and the villages. The last 100km took us about 4 hours! 

We are staying at the Cloud Forest Lodge. Situated in its own forest and with its own private walking tracks. We have a room in a cabin. It is spacious and modestly furnished and the double bed is remarkably wide and long. We have lunch at the hotel restaurant and then head for the Ranario, or the Frog Pond. They keep over 20 types of frogs and toads here, all of them native to Costa Rica. Most frogs are nocturnal and during the day they keep quiet and hidden. Also their colours are less bright during the day, in order not to attract predators. Only the poisonous frogs are active. They are tiny creatures of no more than an inch in length and have bright fiery colours. The young enthusiastic guide tell vividly about the amphibious animals and knows a lot about them. Some of the terms even in Dutch. We are allowed to return at night for a nocturnal visit, when the frogs will be more lively and visible. Late afternoon we see a heavy shower, but it clears soon after that. It then becomes clear why the forests are called cloud forests around here. We see the evaporating water forming huge clouds that linger around the tree tops. 

At night we eat at Restaurante de Lucia. Fine food and good wine to match. I take sea bass or Corvina, a fish that is on almost any menu here. After dinner we drive back to the Ranaria for the evening tour of the frogs. The frogs are more active now and colourful, although the freeze when they are caught by the torch light. Their colours are impressive and we manage to take a picture of  Spurelli's flying frog, the ultimate trophy here. This remarkable creature with its red eyes and yellow/green webbed feet sports many a picture post card from Costa Rica. After the visit we drive back to the hotel and have a beer at the bar. 

Weàther: Sunny and warm. 28°C / 82°F. Heavy thunderstorm late afternoon. Cooler after that

Zaterdag 12 april 2008

We rise early and have breakfast at 6.30. At 7 we drive to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. This is a large privately owned nature reserve with a special humid type of rain forest. It is often shrouded in clouds. After an introductory video, we start the walk with a guide. videoprMelvin put a lot of effort in to showing us and 6 other people in our group some rare or special animals. We are welcomed by a Coati Mundie. Coatis are related to racoons and are not shy at all. Acting as if were not  there he is scanning the forest floor for anything edible. After that we see a couple of howler monkeys, making lots of noise up there in the tree tops. There are lots of birds and Melvin shows us the black Guam and the black faced Solitaire, that make the sound of a squeaky hinge. But the main prize is... the resplendent  Quetzal. We are offered extensive observatiosn of this rare and elusive, yet popular bird. It is a couple. Striking features are its red chest, blue head and extraordinary long tail feathers. Its sound is very modest, but Melvin heard the two birds coming from quite a distance. Melvin ever so proud of his find, because most other guides we meet missed them. 

We continue and see a group of tucanets, a small breed of tucans. A bit further on we stumble upon a Tarantula. Not very dangerous at all, but scary enough for some of the women.  Our "desert" is a cappucin monkey hunting for frogs. Near the park entrance there is a hummingbirdgallery. People have put drinkdispensers from which the birds can take some sweet syrup. There are lots of hummingbirds in many colours and sizes. In Monteverde alone there are 26 species. It is fascinating to see them hanging still in the air or even flying backwards. The only type of bird that can. H

We drive back to the lodge. After lunch we drive to the butterfly garden. Here an American girl tells us all we need to know about insects in Costa Rica in general and on butterflies in particular. We see a pupa coming out into a butterfly and are guided through 4 indoor gardens, each representing a typical habitat for different types of butterfly.  The most beautiful is, of cours, the Blue Morpho, the national butterfly of Costa Rica. There are lots of them flying about, but it is impossible to take a picture of one with its wings open. After the butterfly tour we get some insight into life inside a leafcutter ant colony. Next port of call is the coffee plantation of Don Juan. We get a tour around the place and our guide Gerardo tells us all about Costa Rican coffee culturen. In Costa Rica the law requires that only Arabica coffee is planted and harvested. This type of plant produces less beans than others, but the quality is much better. Coffee grows here at an altitude of 1200 metres above the sea. We walk around the plantation and are taken through all stages of production: from seed to coffee cup.  In the shop we buy some packets. Don Juan only sells on the local market, so it is rare. We drive back to the lodge. At night we drive down the steep road to the village and dine at Johnny's pizzaria. Delicious pizza and good service.

 Weather: sunny and warm 26°C/ 79°F.

Sunday 13 April 2008

We drive early to the Santa Helena Cloud Forest reserve, 5km North of the village. The road up there is bumpy and goes steadly uphil. It takes about 30 minutes before we get there. It is much quieter than the Monteverde preserve. We do not take a guide this time, but follow the Sendero Encantado track. It is a nice track. We hear lots of birds, but see far less than we would with a guide. The walk goes up and down and it takes about 2,5 hours to do the 5km. After the walk we drive back to the lodge. In the afternoon we do the Sky Walk, a hanging bridges tour. We first have to climb a high winding staircase before we can cross the first of 6 bridges.  The tour looks a lot like the one near Arenal, but is less beautiful and not as well maintained.  We hear howlers, but we do not get to see them. Nor do we see the Quetzal that was promised. We only see a  Tarantula. After the tour we drive to the village of Santa Elena, which very ugly actually. It is geared towards a boisterous young crowd, drawn by canopy tours and white water rafting. We take our money (from the ATM) and run. We have a drink just outside the village and drive back to the lodge. At night we have a meal at  Funda Vela in Monteverde. Fine restaurant and good food. As often in  Costa Rica the different courses come quickly after the other and before you know it you are full. We go back and get to the hotel just before total darkness falls on the forest. Only in Santa Elena the road is paved and lit..

Weather: sunny and warm 26°C/ 79°F. It cools off at night to 19°C / 66°F