Author: Maggie Page 28 of 34

Today we visited Manuel Antonio National Park. The park is very rich in flora and fauna but unfortunately also attracts a vast number of visitors. In order to preserve the habitat the public is only allowed access to a small area – just 1-2% of the park. Before entry your bags are searched to ensure you have no drugs, alcohol or small snacks that could be fed to the monkeys. We followed our guide into the park. The initial path was well made with wide areas for viewing. The guide had a scope which he set up when he spotted something. If you looked through the scope it made it much easier to then view the creature through your own binoculars as you knew what you were looking for and where it was hiding. We mainly saw reptiles and their camouflage was incredible.

We were also lucky enough to see several more three-toed sloths though they were high up and hard to photograph.

The tour took a couple of hours and we were then free to walk along more trails or spend time on the reserves two beautiful beaches. It was very hot so the beach and sea were much more appealing. As we approached the beach we encountered some very cheeky and cute capuchin monkeys

There are two beaches in the nature reserve. Both were beautiful but the first one was smaller and a little busy.

The second beach we came to was gorgeous. The sea was calm but large waves broke along the shoreline. They were extremely good fun to body surf in but it has taken days to remove all the fine sand from nails and clothing!! The undertow is extremely strong and you are warned not to swim out too far due to rip tides.

We stayed on the beach for a couple of hours then headed into town for lunch. We found a bar opposite the public beach where we sat and watched the world go by. I had some excellent bruschetta and two really good G&Ts.

We caught the local bus back to the hotel, which is high on the cliff top above the town. The buses run every 20 minutes and are very cheap at about 70p!

It was then time for another rum punch party. Duncan kindly went to the supermarket and bought more rum and juice, Deinor brought down a huge bowl of homemade guacamole and tacos and a good time was had by all.

We went out for a bird-spotting walk before breakfast. The air was chilly and there was a brisk breeze. We walked up the steep path behind our rooms and surveyed the trees and bushes for signs of bird life. We did spot a variety of bird life including a rare woodpecker, but as usual everything was at a distance and fast moving. I was very pleased to have invested in a good pair of binoculars. They are brilliant and enable me to clearly observe wildlife no matter how distant.

We ate breakfast and at 08.30 the bus drove up to our rooms so we could load our luggage. This negated the need for us to lug our cases down the steep path and steps to reception. Then we were on our way. The scenery on the drive was spectacular.

We continued our descent and the terrain flattened. Most of the fences on fields in Costa Rica are formed from living trees, which act as posts with barbed wire strung between them. Good for wildlife and much more attractive then fence posts.

After a couple of hours we arrived at the crocodile bridge. The bridge spans a river which is home to some pretty large crocodiles. This has led to a little tourist development of shops and restaurants springing up. We climbed out of the bus and were blasted by hot and humid air. A huge change from the cooler mountain air. I bought a delicious banana and strawberry smoothie and then set off across the bridge to photograph the crocodiles.

We caught our first glimpse of the sea as we drove along the Pacific Coast. We reached Puntarenas – major port and inched away along in a long queue of traffic. The driver took a detour which did not help at all as everyone else had the same idea. We eventually left the town and traffic behind us and arrived at our hotel in Manuel Antonio in time for lunch. We thought we had ordered a light lunch but it turned out to be huge. They do not do small portions here!

We spent a lazy afternoon by the pool. Bob set off for the local supermarket and came back armed with local rum and fruit juices. The pool bar was not in use so we commandeered it. There was a supply of plastic glasses and an ice machine so we set about making up some pretty good rum punch. There’s something about drinking rum by a pool in the sun. HUGE THANK YOU BOB!!

It turns out that Bob’s wife Pat has her birthday today so the rum punch party is apt. Deinor then organised a group dinner to celebrate. We went to a cool restaurant in Manuel Antonio called El Avion.

The fuselage was converted into the bar and you walk through that to the large restaurant at the back. The restaurant had a great atmosphere and was a bit different. A must do if in Manuel Antonio.

Bob had organised a birthday cake which was beautiful and delicious. Happy Birthday Pat!

This morning we visited the Monteverde Institute to learn about the history of Monteverde and get our hands dirty helping with the re-forestation program. Monteverde was founded by North American Quakers in 1951 and since then has been run on a collaberative, community basis. It is a very unique place. Scientists and biologists started to take an interest in the 1960s and the direction of Monteverde’s development changed. The cloud forest is now a protected area and contains approximately 2.5% of the world’s bio-diversity with 400 bird species, 100 mammal species, 160 reptile and amphibian species, 500 orchids and 750 tree species. Just incredible!

The Institute is running a volunteer program to re-forest a corridor for wildlife between the Pacific Coast and Monteverde. It is the wrong time of year to plant trees so our task was to fill pots ready for planting and to clean up pine needles and debris from young saplings. We worked for the best part of two hours and prepared 200 new pots. A very satisfying morning’s work.

We were given light refreshments before taking a walk through the adjacent forest to a good viewing spot. En route we encountered a very large column of leaf cutter ants and saw their nest which was huge, measuring several metres across.

The day was hot but the air was hazy so we were unable to see as far as we would have liked.

We returned to the Institute for a talk and were given a very tasty lunch of rice with chicken, salad and ice-cream. Interestingly, the young lady delivering the talk told us that it was her grandparents who were among the founder Quakers of Monteverde.

Three of us then decided it would be interesting to visit the bat caves a short walk down the road. This turned out to be a very underwhelming experience. There were several species of bats behind a 30 foot long pane of glass. Occasionally they left their roosts to feed on fruit but it was not the eco-experience we had hoped for. The best thing was the owner’s adorable 8 week old puppy!

We returned to the hotel and I arranged a back massage which was great and much needed after so much walking uphill with a backpack and camera round my neck. I feel much more relaxed now and less stiff. As I left the spa an agouti was standing on the grass just feet away from me. Annoyingly, I had neither my phone or camera with me. However, when I reached my room there was an emerald toucanet in the tree just outside and he did gave me time to dash in and grab my camera.

This was our last night at Monteverde so we all gathered on the terrace outside my room for pre-dinner drinks. It was a really fun evening. We were good and tidied up after ourselves, placing all the empty bottles, cans and snack packaging into the waste bins outside our rooms. We overlooked one thing…. The local wildlife. I was awoken at 02.00 by a clattering outside. I pulled back the curtain to see a large coati ransacking the bin contents. He proceeded to keep me awake for the next hour.

Today we left at 07.30 for a walk through the cloud forest. It is a beautiful morning with clear blue skies. There is still a chill in the air but then we are at 5000 ft and it will warm up by mid-morning. We have a short talk about the research that is carried out in the cloud forest. There is a vast collection of mammals, birds, butterflies and insects here, including pumas, jaguars and of course the resplendent quetzel. Apparently all of these are incredibly difficult to see in the dense vegetation but camera traps have shown that there are good populations here. Our guide Johnny says we will be unlikely to see many birds as the weather is too good! The creatures apparently prefer the cloud and mist and today’s weather is unusual. There is a viewing platform at the highest point of the cloud forest and the views are superb.

Unfortunately Johnny’s prediction turns out to be correct; we caught tantalising glimpses of birds and saw no mammals at all. However we did see thousands of plants and these beautiful fungi.

We also saw a humming bird nest, a snake hiding in the undergrowth, a stick insect and la piece de resistance – a red-knee tarantula!

We then visited the adjacent butterfly garden which was rather disappointing. I have however learned that my blue butterfly at La Fortuna is in fact a moth, though no-one knows exactly what. Deinor is going to ask a butterfly expert friend for a positive identification.

The best experience was the humming bird walk. There were so many humming birds of all shapes and sizes. They flew so close to you that your hair moved. They are however extremely hard to photograph, especially in low light with a slow shutter speed but I spent a good while trying.

This was a very long morning and when we returned to our hotel we were all pretty tired. We headed for the nearest restaurant – Don Luis and had a large lunch as we were going on a night walk at 17.30 and not returning until 20.00 so we knew we would need serious refuelling.

The night walk was again led by Johnny. We followed him into the forest and before long saw a side-striped pit viper. Highly venomous but not aggressive. His head was out of view but he was probably some 3ft in length.

We continued our walk and saw a two-toed sloth and her baby high up in a tree. We also saw a few sleeping birds, but most of our sightings were mainly confined to insects, most of which I had never seen before.

We were all completely exhausted after the walk (we had clocked up a lot of miles during the course of the day) and opted for buying cheese, crackers, crisps, wine and beer at the supermarket across the road, which we consumed on the terrace outside our rooms, before retiring to our beds for a very well earned sleep.

Today we left La Fortuna and made our way to Monteverde and the cloud forest. The volcano was still veiled in cloud so sadly no full sightings of the summit. We drove for half an hour to Arenal Lake where we changed from bus to boat. The lake is 135km long and 5km wide. It is much quicker to take the hour boat trip across the lake rather than driving around it; partucularly so as the roads are hilly and windy.

As we crossed the lake the cloud thinned, the air warmed and the sun appeared. We chugged across the lake on a very crowded boat and finally reached the far shore. However, as we approached we could see no sign of a landing area. Then the boat turned to the right and we could see a channel which had been masked from view by the reed beds. The landing point was even more chaotic than the embarkation. Vehicles were parked everywhere on the narrow dirt track down to the lakeside. Three boats had come in at once and some 100 people were trying to manoeuvre their way, with luggage, between the closely parked vehicles and each other. Complete mayhem! We eventually found our bus, passed the cases through the back window for stowage and were once more on our way.

The road was now a stony and bumpy track, yet mopeds and indeed other vehicles managed to overtake us. Fortunately our driver was good and drove very steadily. The road became very steep in places as the terrain was very hilly indeed. I took photos from the bus but apologise for picture quality due to darkened windows, speed and bumpy terrain!

We made a brief stop for refreshments and finally arrived in Monteverde at 12.30. The hotel is not per the itinerary but actually is the best accommodation so far. Large rooms with a good-sized bathroom and I would say recently refurbished. The centre of town is a 10 minute walk down quite a steep hill but fortunately there are several restaurants and a supermarket across the road. We grab a quick lunch before departing at 14.15 for zip-lining. Twelve out of the sixteen of us opted for the trip and we were all apprehensive but need not have been. The zip-lining operators – 100% Aventuras were extremely professional. All equipment was expertly fitted on us and we were given a very clear briefing. Then it was time to give it a go.

There are 10 zip-lines in total. The first is easy – 35m just to check you can get it right and brake when required. The longest is just under 1.6 km and is strung high across a valley. This one you do superman style – lying facedown. It is probably one of the best things I have ever done. The views and sense of freedom were incredible.

It was also possible to try the Tarzan swing. It’s a bit like bungee jumping but this involves having a harness around your waist instead of your feet. You then step off a 40m platform and after a long fall swing through the air like Tarzan. I decided this was not for me but four of our party were brave enough to give it a go. Well done indeed Rob, Duncan, Pat and Sharon!

After all the exercise we were pretty hungry and thirsty so we gathered for drinks on the terrace outside our rooms, then headed off for dinner.