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| Costa Rica Honeymoon, Fall 2000: Monteverde, Day 15
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Monday, November 6, 2000: Nature mode
This afternoon, we went horseback riding for a couple of hours with a local guide, and were blown away by the experience. The guide met us with two horses (and his own) right at our hotel. When we first set off, we were riding along the roads of Monteverde, and while it was pleasant enough, we were a little let down...surely, we'd see more than roads? We needn't have feared. Pretty soon, we turned off the road, cut through a ranch, and rode through farmland,through sugar cane fields, past banana trees, deep into cloud forest, through an (inexplicable) grove of pines, high up in the hills...I couldn't believe everything we saw!
Went back to the Restaurant De Lucia restaurant for dinner tonight, and suprisingly (or maybe not so much) ran into a couple we'd met briefly in Tamarindo, Crystal and Jimmy (also newlyweds, who'd gotten married the day after we did). They were dining with a woman named Siobhan (Dave couldn't figure the name out and kept calling her Chiffon, much to everyone's amusement) and invited us to join them. We spent a fun evening drinking and dining, and discovered that Crystal and Jimmy were en route to San Jose the next day, like us...but didn't have a car and were planning to take the bus. We offered to drive them and arranged to meet in the morning.
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We're totally into nature mode, and really, really liking it. Today, we took another guided hike (not just the two of us, but a larger group), this time in the Monteverde Reserve. We started off with a slide show and presentation of the flora and fauna in the park. Interesting fact: the gorgeous golden toad (it's a bright reddish/orange) was at one time plentiful in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, its natural habitat; but now, due to climate changes, it's extinct (they think). No one's seen one in years. Very sad.
We then set out with our guide to explore the area. It was interestingly different from the Santa Elena reserve. First of all, it was very crowded, whereas the Santa Elena park was almost devoid of hikers. (At one point, our guide started to tell us about the most common mammal in the woods...he paused just long enough for me to blurt out, "Tourists!" Which set off a big belly laugh by everyone in our tour group, but, sadly, seemed to be true.) Also, the climate was appreciably different. It was slightly cooler, and the trees were spaced much farther apart. It was less jungle-y and much more like a typical East Coast dense forest, we thought.
All in all, though, it was a great experience. We, amazingly, got to see the endangered Resplendent Quetzal, which is the most beautiful bird I've ever laid eyes on (unfortunately, the photos didn't come out terribly well, since we were trying to shoot through a telescope; the image on this page is from a postcard). They're becoming increasingly rare, due mainly to climate changes, and we were really lucky to spot one. We also saw baby howler monkeys playing in the trees, another coatimundi, a bunch of different species of birds (yes, Mom, I brought my field guide! And identified most of them!), and more amazing tree and insect life.
Oh, and we were chased by killer bees. No lie! Really! One of the people in our hiking group stumbled into a nest, and the bees came after her. We had to run through the jungle to lose them! Luckily, we escaped with only two stings -- one on the girl who'd tripped over the nest, and the other to our guide, who was bravely bringing up the rear in an effort to protect us all. Woo, scary.
Not only were the views amazing, but we saw a spectacular array of wildlife -- most notably, a whole troop of
white-faced capuchin monkeys that screamed at us for trespassing near their trees. At one point, we literally rode through a giant tree in the jungle. Its trunk had split open in the middle and it formed a natural archway over and around the trail large enough to fit a man (and a horse!) through. Try doing that back home! David, who's normally not a huge fan of horseback
riding, is still in awe over how much fun we had. He's giving it top-five marks among all the things we've done in this vacation...and I have to agree.
Sadly, this is our last night in this amazing place. While just a few days ago we felt just about ready to return home, now we wish we had another week to spend. We didn't expect to like it so much here in Monteverde, especially after Mr. Toadīs Wild Ride just getting here...but the karma is amazing. Everyone is so friendly, the feeling here is totally relaxed and accepting, and the setting is one of the most beautiful we've ever seen. This place really embodies the Costa Rican slogan of "Pura Vida," or "pure life."