Cloud Forests and Rainy Days

The Monteverde Cloud Forest in Central Costa Rica is one of the most tranquil places I've been.  We didn't see much sun during our trip but the lushness of this place was uncomparable.

We stayed at the Hotel Belmar, which by far exceeded our expectations.  It was dark when we arrived, and pouring rain, but we got checked into our beautiful room and had a luxury meal at the hotel's restaurant.  It was one of the best I've ever had, honestly.  The room is all done in wood, with a private balcony.  It's an ecoresort but you'd never know it from the amenities.  Breakfast was included and had everything you could want, including some of the best blackberry syrup I've ever had.

We did a hike from our hotel the first day.  It was a private guided walk.  We went way up into the hills looking for a Quetzal, but didn't find one.  We did see some bell birds and a really scary eyelash viper.  It was a little too close to my bare legs for comfort.  Orchids grow everywhere here.

It rained as we finished the hike, so we had lunch in town and then went to some of the local art galleries.  Everything is so colorful here- maybe because the days are so grey and cloudy.  The sun started to come out as we drove out to the National Park to buy tickets for tomorrow and see the hummingbirds.

It rained more in the afternoon so we crashed at the hotel, hoping it would stop before our night hike.  It sort of did.  We were picked up in a cab, and I had the nicest conversation with our cab driver.  In Spanish!  I love getting to practice speaking, since I'm so very bad at it.

The night hike was pretty cool.  We saw a lot of bugs, and a very lazy sloth.  Leafcutter ants are weird, like something out of little Disney cartoons.  We also found a dink frog.  After hiking we ate at a tapas place- this is definitely not a country with a night life, everything was closing up at 8 PM.

Our final day we did a guided hike in the National Park and found the Quetzal!  It was a young one without the long tail feathers, but it still counts.  The rest of the hike was getting a little repetitive, but still beautiful.

As we pulled into the parking lot before the hike, we realized we had a flat tire.  (Mi coche esta pinchado!) A few efforts trying to change it ourselves led to the assistance of several guys from the park- good to know chivalry isn't dead.  We got it patched at the gas station by the hotel, then were on our way to the coast for the last part of our trip.