Yesterday morning we went on a hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve with our awesome guide / biologist, Eduardo.  He was extremely knowledgeable about all of the plants, birds, bugs, and animals of the reserve, and we were so lucky to have him all to ourselves.  He was a wealth of information and even told us how to cure Sherry’s illness (Suero – electrolytes).

I took 100s of photos yesterday.  Here are just a few:

I have so much to write but I’m SO TIRED, so here’s a picture for you.  I’ll write more tomorrow.

Today we went to Caño Negro, a wildlife preserve on the Rio Frio. We were with a group of about 10 other people, and our guide, Walter, told us all about the crops, politics, and Costa Rica in general as we travelled. He was a wealth of information.

On the way we stopped at a restaurant where the owner had started feeding the iguanas years ago, and apparently they told all their friends because more iguanas came, they all had baby iguanas, and now there are zillions of iguanas. The trees were FULL of them.

We were on the boat for a couple of hours and even though the guides knew where a lot of the animals hung out so it seemed somewhat choreographed, it was still amazing. We saw caymans, iguanas, Jesus Christ lizards, howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, TONS of different birds, and my absolute favorite, sloths. When we saw the first sloth, the guide was talking about an albino monkey and I was taking pictures of what I thought he was referring to and it turned out to be a sloth. It moved around quite a bit while we watched, and we eventually saw 4 more (including a mother and baby) in other locations along the river. They are so amazing to see.

On the way back we stopped at a farm after having to change vans because of mechanical difficulties (seems to be a theme for this trip). It’s a small farm but we got a sense of how Costa Rican farms are operated. There were 2 really cute puppies, cows and calves, extremely smelly pigs, horses, chickens, rabbits, quail, turkeys, guinea fowl, and a duck sitting on an egg.

The drive from San Jose to La Fortuna was like no other road I’ve ever seen. I had been wondering why the estimated travel time seemed so long for such a short distance. I got my answer. THANK GOD we paid extra to get a GPS. It was very helpful in getting us through the city without getting lost, but the real value was once we were driving through the mountainous areas. The GPS showed the hairpin turns that were coming up – Sherry commented that the screen on the GPS looked like intestines. It also announced the speed bumps (two in front of each school), “dangerous bridges,” – all one-lane, and on two occasions the “road sinking ahead.”

To make things even more exciting, there were absolutely no shoulders and the roads were really narrow. Half the time there was another car or truck in our lane. There were no sidewalks so there were people walking, kids running, and dogs standing in the road. Not to mention the mules, chickens, and even a pig which were hanging out on the side of the road ready to dart out in front of us. Sherry drove all the way and she didn’t run over anyone or even a chicken. I helped by pressing my imaginary brake.

We arrived at the Volcano Lodge around 2, and we were headed out for a hike at 3:40 so we settled in and got a half hour nap. The hotel is really beautiful, especially the grounds. There are crazy big flowers growing everywhere, and the reception lady told us that if we walk around early we may see monkeys!

The tour company came to take us on our hike and we were with a family from Denver. Our guide, Noellia, knew all about the volcano and the local birds and animals. While we were looking at the volcano and taking pictures – it erupted!! It sounded like thunder and smoke came out the top and boulders tumbled down the sides. Amazing!  It was like someone added the baking soda to the science fair project just for us.

Tonight we went to dinner at the Springs, a hot springs resort. It is the most gorgeous resort I’ve ever seen, and it was EMPTY. I don’t know why. It’s getting great press as being one of the best places to stay. We had a nice dinner and soaked in the pools for a while. Sherry isn’t feeling well so she’s trying to sleep it off right now so we can head out on our next adventure in the morning.

So far, so good.  The weather is spectacular, the hotel is beautiful, we have our rental car and it’s pretty new and the guy spoke English really well so we know what we’re doing.  We have a GPS which he already set with our next hotel.  We have a cell phone, a map, and 3 1/2 hours of sleep.  This is too easy!  There I go again…we’ll probably run over a sloth on the way and get arrested for killing the national mascot. 

We’re off to the Arenal Volcano today, followed by a soak in the hot springs so we’ll have some pics to post later.  Wish us luck!
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