monte verde cloud forest

When we got to Monte Verde the temperature was about 15 degrees cooler, with strong winds and a cloudy mist in the air. This is Costa Rica's "cloud forest." Most restaurants, shops, and hotel lobbies we saw in Costa Rica were without walls. We weren't sure how they locked up at night. But not in Monte Verde. This is one of the few restaurants we went to with walls. Even so, there was still a local pooch to curl up at your feet while you ate. I just love Mike's blue eyes in this picture.


We communicated with the kids via email. This was a fun internet cafe Mike found.


This is the garden and lush view from the back of our hotel. I spent quite a bit of time reading there, while Mike explored and found a local barber to cut his hair.

We went to the cloud forest park, which featured several tours and experiences. We toured a herpetarium, where we saw indigenous frogs, snakes and lizards. Mike went on a hanging bridges tour while I went to a hummingbird garden.




Together we did an amazing zipline tour through and above the forest canopy. Thirteen different lines, the longest of which was 1000 meters, gave us a different view of Costa Rica's verdant beauty.



As if that wasn't quite enough excitement, the final experience was a terrifying "Tarzan Swing." They attach your harness to a rope and push you off a ledge, and you howl involuntarily, sounding not nearly as much like Tarzan as you'd like to.

I was pretty fulfilled at the end of this day, but Mike realized we could squeeze in a "night tour" of the cloud forest. I didn't take these pictures, but I want to give you an idea of some highlights from the "night tour."
The jewel beetle, which looks solid gold. No kidding.

This one's for you, Ken. The click beetle, which makes a distinct "click" when it flips from its back to its legs. That's not the coolest part, though. It has two tiny headlights that switch on when you touch it. Like two little leds. They slowly dim until you touch it again. Nature is so cool. Especially the stuff that glows.


Our guide was amazing. He pointed out frogs, stick bugs, all manner of insects, and birds sleeping in trees. He showed us swarms of nectar bats darting around the hummingbird feeders. At the end of it all, he zoomed away on his motorbike like an Indiana Jones adventure-nerd.

We finally got some dinner late that night. Beans and rice and the live music playing in our hotel restaurant capped the perfect day.