Monteverde Cloud Forest

Today was pretty mellow. While traveling I usually keep a pretty loose itinerary and try to make each day more exciting and more memorable than the one before it. It's tons of fun because every single day is amazing and even though I don't always know where I'll be or what I'll do the next day, I do know that I'll remember it for the rest of my life. Traveling that way is such a blast, but it also takes a lot of effort and gets pretty draining after awhile. I always tell myself that I need to pace myself and that I'm going to sleep in the next morning and spend some time relaxing the next day, but there's always a reason why I have to keep pushing. I've told myself every day this trip that I'd sleep in the next morning, but out of seventeen days so far, I've only slept in three times. If I don't have to catch a bus or a ferry early in the morning then I have to wake up early for a tour or to go on a dive. It's definitely worth it and it's tons of fun, but like I said, it also gets pretty draining.

Fortunately today was one of the three times that I was able to sleep in. I laid in bed until nine or nine thirty and then I ventured out of my room to get a shower and a bite to eat. Breakfast was “Gallo y Pinto con Huevos”, rice mixed with beans and sauce and served with fried eggs. I love the meals down here. Four or five bucks will buy a giant plate of beans and rice with either eggs or steak, chicken or pork, depending on what meal it is. The rice and beans probably would get old after awhile, but that won't happen before I fly home on Friday.

The hotel I'm staying at is kind of funny. When I got off the bus yesterday morning I walked into the first legitimate travel agency I saw to book the eXtremo. The place asked if I needed a place to sleep and ended up giving me a clean room, my own bathroom with a hot shower, and unlimited internet access all for only eight bucks a night. This is easily the nicest room I've stayed in during my whole trip and it also happens to be the cheapest room I've stayed in. I almost want to stay in Monteverde longer just so I can stay in this awesome eight-dollar room. The funny thing about the hotel is that it doubles as a popular travel agency. My room opens up into the lobby/office of the agency and there are people coming in and out all day to book different tours. My private bathroom is across the hall from my bedroom, so when I shower sometimes I have to sneak across the hall all wet with no shirt on and hope I don't offend anyone in the crowded lobby.

After a hot shower, a filling breakfast, and a few hours of relaxation, I headed off on a public bus (see: former US school bus) to Monteverde Cloud Forest. I hiked through the cloud forest for a couple of hours and I have to say it probably was the most legitimate rainforest experience I've ever had. I read about this place several months ago and wanted to be sure to come here, partly because I was curious to see what a cloud forest really was. It was easy to figure it out after only a few minutes of hiking. A cloud forest is a forest filled with clouds. I had read that in my guide book but for whatever reason I didn't believe it. I figured that the weather is so unpredictable that it would be unreasonable to expect any place to have clouds all the time. Monteverde is different. Something about the climate in the mountains here causes clouds to always cover the forest. I was really impressed with how well cared for the place is. There's a dirt pathway about the width of a sidewalk that winds through the forest and is very well maintained. A lot of times when I go hiking it's fun to wander off a ways and explore different areas, but this path was so great that all I really wanted to do was follow it through the cloud forest and enjoy the views. Most of the scenery was made up of dense, fern-covered trees, roots, and vines, obscured in the distance by the ever-present clouds. Occasionally I would pass a small, exotic flower near the side of the pathway that was a burst of color, contrasting well with the green and brown rainforest surrounding it.A lot of people hire a guide at Monteverde to help them spot wildlife, but I was lucky enough to see a few animals without one. Towards the beginning of my hike, as I was concentrating on taking a picture, I heard some small animal rustling through the forest nearby. I looked through the trees and briefly spotted a small black furry creature, but couldn't quite make out what it was. Later I heard leaves and branches shaking above me and looked up to see a small monkey climbing through the canopy. As I pointed my camera into the trees, hoping to get a picture that I knew would never turn out, the monkey stopped and peered right down at me. I snapped a shot of the thing but got only a silhouette of the monkey and the leaves. After pulling my camera away I stared right back at the creature. He waited and stared back at me for a few seconds before finally disappearing upwards into the canopy.I booked a night walk through the rainforest during which an experienced guide was going to point out nocturnal wildlife as we hiked through the trees. Unfortunately the clouds of the cloud forest often bring rain and that was the case tonight. The combination of the rain and lightning made bad conditions for humans and animals alike and the tour was cancelled. Instead I bought a few delicious pastries from a bakery next door and spent an hour chatting with other travelers in the lobby of the hotel/travel agency. Of course I wish that I could do the night walk through the cloud forest, but it'll have to wait until my next visit to Costa Rica. Tomorrow I'm headed to the Pacific beaches for some real relaxation. I want to get a couple more dives in before coming home and there's no better place in the country to do it than at Playa del Coco, known for it's large marine wildlife. With the exception of tomorrow morning, when I have to wake up early to catch a bus to the coast, I swear I'll sleep in every day for the rest of the trip.