Monteverde, Costa Rica - Days 16 & 17

Tuesday, February 26

Onto a new destination this morning! We planned to leave Montezuma by 7:00am, so of course this is the morning Aden decided to sleep in. Andi and I packed our things while Tory ate breakfast and then I carried a sleepy Aden to the car so we could make the 1 1/2 hour drive to Paquera, a small port town. I handed my phone to Andi so he could use it for navigation and he said “It wouldn’t be a travel day if it didn’t start with Heather’s phone about to die.” Oops!

In Paquera, we planned to take the Puntarenas ferry 11 nautical miles across the Gulf of Nicoya to the central part of Costa Rica. As you’ve gathered by now, the zig-zagging roadways are slow to navigate here so by taking this 70-minute ferry ride, we save some drive time in the car. When Andi looked online, tickets for the ferry were booked, but we figured we’d show up before departure time and see if we could get on. If not, we’d continue on our way by car.

The ferry process was a pretty simple one. We pulled in line with the other cars. Andi went inside the building to see if we could buy tickets, and it turns out that they did have some available. Apparently, the ferry company reserves a set number of tickets online and then has some available to purchase in-person. Andi parked the car in the lower level of the ferry while Tory, Aden and I went above ship to find a seat in the waiting area. For safety reasons, they don’t allow anyone but the driver to enter into the car parking area so that’s why Andi went alone.

While we waited, Tory and I did some journaling about our fair experience the night before and we researched information about the sea stars we discovered in the Santa Teresa tide pools. We learned the sea stars we found are called Brittle Stars. It’s pretty neat how we can do school anywhere — even on a ferry! She is learning to write stories with a title and a main idea, and that include a beginning, a middle and an end. See if you can identify those parts of her journal entries.

Andi purchased some treats from the ferry cafeteria and then the kids watched their iPads the remainder of the ride. Traveling on the ferry was really easy and a nice break from driving.

We arrived in Puntarenas, drove off the ferry, and continued traveling by car to Monteverde. It was hot and sunny when we started our drive at the base of the mountains, but as we climbed in elevation we could see people in passing cars wearing sweatshirts! I had a feeling we might be in for a change in temperature. One of the most fascinating things about Costa Rica is its biodiversity. It’s a small country in size, but there are many different ecosystems here. We’re leaving the dry tropical forest behind and heading into the cloud forest! As we drove, we talked about what we might feel and see while visiting this area. “Will it feel soft laying on a cloud?” Aden asked.

Our car pulled into Monteverde’s downtown area around Noon and the first thing we said as we exited the car was, “Brrr!” Strong, gusty winds of cool air whipped around us. Monteverde is definitely a mountain town! I dug out our hoodies buried deep in the backpack and we set off to explore the town. The first thing we noticed about Monteverde was how busy it is. Cars lined the streets and so did tourists walking between shops and restaurants. It’s the first time in our near three weeks of travel that we’ve seen souvenir shops.

We picked up groceries at the Mega Super in town, and then wandered the streets by foot until we found a good spot for lunch. The first place we picked to eat was called the Treehouse restaurant, set up in a neat indoor/outdoor balcony. It had outdoor heaters, too, and —-brrr! We still hadn’t adjusted to the temperature change so those were a nice draw. After examining the menu, we realized the Treehouse was really expensive and considering Tory and Aden take one bite of most restaurant meals before saying, “I don’t like this” or “This tastes different,” we decided to go some place else more affordable. After more wandering, we settled on The Open Kitchen which offered homemade Mac & Cheese for Tory, hand-breaded chicken tenders for Aden, and Andi and I split the shawarma falafel and another Indian dish of which the name escapes me.

After lunch, we drove outside town to our new airbnb. Check-in time wasn’t until 3pm, but we hoped we’d be allowed to move in sooner. Sure enough, the airbnb host was just finishing up when we arrived and invited us in. The new house - Casa Mia - was gorgeous! Set just outside of town about 2 miles, this country house overlooked beautiful mountain pastures and itself was very clean and well finished. Big picture windows allowed the gorgeous mountain scenery indoors. What a treat to stay in a place like this.

After a long travel day, the four of us bummed around the house for a bit. Andi and Aden explored the property while Tory and I did more school work on the computer. When it was time to think about cooking dinner, we realized we’d left the meat we purchased in the grocery store check-out. Shoot! Without another option, we piled into the car and headed back into town for dinner. One meal out to eat seems to be our max per day and dinnertime is never our choice. The kids are tired and it’s usually harder to keep them occupied. After cruising through town, we decided to see if the fast-casual chicken restaurant in town sold whole chickens, and — yes! They did! So, we bought a whole rotisserie chicken and took it to-go back to our airbnb. Back at home, we paired the chicken with a steamed vegetable. A healthy and satisfying dinner for everyone under 6,000 colones ($10).

Bonus: We caught a beautiful sunset on our drive back home. It started to rain after dark, and the wind howled all night long which I think is pretty typical for this area. Back home, winds like that would have meant a big storm was blowing in but the weather never turned violent here. Just a steady rain all night long which was kind of neat and different compared to the hot, dry weather we’ve experienced on our trip so far.

Wednesday, February 27

Andi made plans for us to visit the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest this morning. He hired a guide, Olman, to lead us through the forest and share information about the trees and animals who call it home. We were set to meet Olman at the park at 7:00am. It was still raining and windy when we woke up. I noticed space heaters in the closets yesterday and I wondered why we’d need them here in Costa Rica, but now I see that it gets cold in the mountains! I was this close to turning the heater on, but figured Andi would attest. He was probably ready to open the window, but afraid I’d do the same.

Andi made the kids pancakes for breakfast, and then we piled in the car and drove to a parking lot about 15 minutes away near the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Once we were there, we waited for a shuttle to take us into the park. I don’t particularly love this type of activity when there’s so many tourists you have to be bused into somewhere, but I tried to keep an open mind as the kids and I squeezed into the back of a van with Andi and 10 other wet people we didn’t know. Once we arrived, we met Olman and he secured our tickets into the park. They only allow 250 people into the Monteverde Cloud Forest at a time, so it’s a good thing we arrived early. The park itself is an impressive 10,500 hectares (25,946 acres), but only 2% of the land is developed with trails.

Before we even left the entrance, a group of tourists gathered around shouting and pointing into the trees. Olman set up his tripod binocular and let us see what the commotion was about — apparently it was the rare and special Quetzal (pronounced ket-sal). Olman told us many people travel to Costa Rica for the chance to see this infamous bird and we were fortunate enough to see it from the parking lot. Ha! Even funnier, we had no idea what we were looking at. We are not birders. Later, we learned the bird’s striking color is what makes it so unique. Some say it’s the most beautiful bird in the world. To Costa Rica, the Quetzal is what the Bald Eagle is to the United States: a symbol of liberty.

After our parking lot Quetzal sighting, we began our walk in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. It’s not a hike, like we might say at home. The tour guide was quick to correct Andi when he suggested we “start our hike” this morning, “Oh, no! You do not want to hike with the children. You want to take a walk.” So we walked…

Minutes in, Aden was resistant to walk in the forest. I think it’s safe to say these guided walks are not his favorite activity. It didn’t help matters that it was raining and cold. I invited him to jump in some muddy puddles with his rubber boots hoping that would convince him to continue walking.

A littler farther down the trail, I noticed a brightly colored millipede on the ground so we stopped to watch it. Our guide, Olman, was really easy-going and didn’t rush us to move along. Most people come to the cloud forest for bird watching, but he sensed that wasn’t our main objective. Olman provided us with a few facts about the millipede and other creepy crawlies in the forest.

We continued on the wet, soggy trail toward the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest hanging bridge. As we walked, Olman whistled to birds in the trees and spotted a few notable ones he pointed out to us. Surprisingly, he saw another Quetzal and Andi asked, “Is this one a male or a female?” because they have different coloring. Andi was just trying to be engaged in the tour, but of course I couldn’t resist commenting on his sudden interest. “You’re becoming quite the birder!” I complimented, to which Andi immediately whispered for me to “take it back.”

We continued to follow the trail until we reached the famous red hanging bridge. It was neat to be at the top of the canopy at eye-level with the tree branches. The lush, green leaves of the canopy act as a shield protecting the wet forest floor from erosion. Many plants and animals of the forest that require more sunlight live here in the tree canopy. Olman said one tree will host more than 70 different plant and animal species on it.

We continued walking as we looked at plants and birds. I was a little disappointed we didn’t see more animals, but Olman said most mammals come out in the forest at night. We did see a snake curled up high in the trees.

For as popular as the Monteverde Cloud Forest is, I felt like we should have spent more time there but after two hours of walking we were all ready to be done. It was cold and wet. Olman led us over to the restaurant by the entrance and showed the kids some hummingbird feeders hanging on the patio. Tory and Aden were more excited about the hummingbirds drinking from plastic feeders than they were about any of the birds we saw in the actual forest this morning. That’s kids, for you.

We shuttled back to the parking lot to meet up with our car, and then drove to a nearby bakery for something warm to drink and a little pick-me-up treat. Andi ordered a chocolate croissant and freshly baked banana bread for all of us to share.

This banana bread was the BOMB. So good!

And, this was Andi’s face when I told him I got the feeling we’d just signed up for three days of birding in Monteverde:

I’m really glad we came here because the cloud forest is beautiful and so different from the beach. That said, it is completely different from the Costa Rica we’ve seen in the past two weeks. For one, the tourists are much older and everyone sports a pair of binoculars around their neck. It’s definitely “all about the birds” around here.

After our second breakfast, we stopped by the grocery store to buy more meat (remember, we forgot the meat we bought yesterday in the check-out lane) and we cruised through some of the souvenir shops on Main Street. Andi promised Tory and Aden they could each pick out a toy if they walked the entire time without being carried in the cloud forest. Tory picked out a small stuffed sloth that has magnets in its hands and clasps them together. Aden couldn’t find anything he wanted, so we convinced him to wait for a prize that he actually wanted. All the souvenirs were junk and every store carried the same things.

Next, we returned to our airbnb and made lunch. Tory and I did sat on the sofa in the living room and did some school. We saw more birds and critters up close from our living room window than we did all morning in the cloud forest! A coati (which is similar to a raccoon) jumped up onto the grill and started eating bits of food left on the spatula. Tons of hummingbirds zoomed around the purple flowers outside the window and a big bird that looked similar to a chicken strutted around the lawn.

Tory really wanted to visit the Monteverde Butterfly Garden so after we finished her schoolwork, we drove over there. The butterfly garden had really great reviews online, but I could tell Andi wasn’t that thrilled about spending his afternoon there. That’s part of traveling together as a family though — we all get to choose things we’d like to do and not everyone has to love it, but we all participate anyway.

Tory loves science, so places like this are her jam! Our tour started with a presentation about insects found in the cloud forest. We learned about butterflies, millipedes, beetles, cockroaches, termites, and spiders. Aden volunteered to hold the millipede and then prompted handed it (or tossed it, rather) onto the next person. This topic could have been painfully boring, but the butterfly garden guide made it really engaging.

Next, we toured the butterfly gardens. We learned about all the different types of butterflies found in Costa Rica. Tory’s favorite is the Owl Butterfly because its wings have an “owl eye” on them, providing camouflage from predators. Aden was getting antsy by this point, so Andi spent most of the time chasing him around the gardens and trying to keep him quiet.

After an educational afternoon at the butterfly garden, we returned to our airbnb in the countryside for dinner. Andi grilled chicken for dinner which he and I ate with roasted carrots (the kids had spaghetti) and then we called it an early night. Tomorrow is our last day in Monteverde.