Travelling to Monteverde

We left La Fortuna at 8am to begin our ride to Santa Elena in the Monteverde area. It was a beautiful ride for over 1 1/2 hours along Lake Arenal. The weather was clear and it was absolutely beautiful. Our tour guide explained about the wildlife and the forest area. We stopped on the side of the road to see some howler monkeys that were climbin in a tree next to the road. We stopped at a German bakery (quite the contradiction) on the way for a snack and to use the restrooms.

I had heard from other groups how wonderful their busdrivers were on the crazy roads and after today I understand why. We got to one point and there was a bridge over a gorge. The hills on either side made it impossible for there to be big areas for the bus to swing to make the turn. Basically, we started going East on one side of the gorge and turned directly West on the other. Our bus driver Alex had to turn, and then back up the bus to make himself line up properly to come straight across the bridge. We know how we did this because we all got off the bus and walked across the bridge so he and Victor could handle the situation. One of the younger kids asked why we had to get off and I asked him, "Have your parents ever toold you to be quiet because they're driving?" He nodded and answered Yes. I said, "Well, it's easier for Alex if we're all just off the bus so he doesn't have to yell at us so he can concentrate." The kid smiled and understood. Alex got the bus across, despite the crazy local drivers who wanted to cross and had to wait. We all climbed back on the bus and cheered for our great driver. The roads are very narrow and wind around along the hills. I can't even imagine driving down here.

Montverde means "green mountain" in Spanish. As we drove through the rolling hills Mr.Silva told me that it reminded him of Vermont. This was actually quite appropriate because Vermont comes from "Verdes Monte" which is Latin for Green Mountains. The hills and countryside are beautiful. It was a long ride, however, along dirt roads. Alex said that they've been hit or miss lately and this time they were not that great.

We arrived at the school we were visiting around 12:30. The children were between 7 and 11 years old. They were absolutely adorable. 8 of them performed Costa Rican folk dances for us in traditional costumes. The teacher explained that there are 30 families living in the area and 10 of those families have children attending the school. There are 22 children total. They teach grades 1 - 5 in one room with one teacher. A few years ago, a tornado ripped the roof off their school. With the help of EF and the government they managed to replace the roof. It was good for the kids to see the difference between our schools and the schools these kids are in. After the performance we visited with the children in class and then played soccer with them out in the fields. We would have liked to stay longer but with the rough roads we were running behind schedule and had to leave.

We pulled in to our hotel around 2pm. We ran in and ate lunch and then took off for the Zip Line Canopy Tour. Many of us were a bit nervous heading out. Our guides were excellent and set us all up in the harnesses and with helmets and explained how to navigate the 16 ziplines through the cloud forest. It all started fairly easy, travelling through the woods and over some trees. A few stops in we had to cross a rope bridge, which was a challenge for some of us. Then after a few more ziplines we came to the Tarzan Swing. The idea was to climb up a big tower and be attached to bungee type rope and swing out into an opening in the forest. The men working at the location were very kind and had a lot of fun and made everyone comfortable with what they were doing. The kids had a blast jumping and swinging and screaming. After the Tarzan Swing and a climb up the hill we crossed the valley twice on 2 lines almost 1/2 a mile long. I'm not ashamed to say I shut my eyes crossing the last area. Thankfully the people working there were great and if anyone had an issue they worked up with a "taxi" to help them through. A worker would ride across the zipline to help the person get back to the final station. Everyone had a great time. No one got hurt and we all walked out with huge smiles on our face.

Once we left the zipline we headed back to our hotel to check in, get settled and have dinner. We are all thrilled with our hotel compared to the last one. The last hotel was in the city and a tad on the old side. This hotel is family owned and on the inside reminds us of a mountain lodge. The rooms open up to a central corridor. There is no air conditioning, however. the windows open and there is a huge breeze flowing through making it bareable. Dinner was great. Served family style we had chicken or grilled seabass with vegetables and mashed potatos. After dinner many of us stayed in the central area playing cards.