Monteverde, Costa Rica - Days 18 & 19

Thursday, February 28

Today is our last day in Monteverde and we’ve got a full agenda. This morning, Andi booked a tour on a sustainable working farm, so we woke up early to arrive there by 8:00am. Monteverde is big dairy country and many farms in the area offer tours of their operation. Andi found one that sounded perfect for us through Airbnb Experiences — smaller scale and more hands-on.

We met Orlando, a third generation farmer, upon our arrival at the farm. We were also introduced to Orlando’s grandmother and his mom who live and work on the property. Since taking over farm operations from his dad, Orlando has implemented sustainable farming practices by eliminating the use of pesticides and chemical-based fertilizers and creating a balance of pastureland and forest for animals to graze.

Our tour began in the farm’s greenhouse. Inside, Orlando showed us the herbs they grow and use for cooking. Most of the herbs were ones I recognized from back home, but there were a few unique ones I didn’t know like altamisa. Orlando said his grandmother uses the fresh herbs in hot tea to cure headaches and stomachaches.

Next, we walked down a path that led us to the animals. We could hear cows mooing, goats bleating, and chickens squaking… they were hungry for breakfast! Aden made friends with the cat named Breezy while Andi fed the chickens and Tory collected eggs. Then we moved over to where the baby cows are kept, and Orlando cut some stalks with leaves so we could feed them. I couldn’t believe how strong these little calves were as they tore the leaves from the stalks! Their strength almost knocked Tory and Aden to the ground as they tried to hang on to the plant.

The calves were around three months old. We also fed one calf and one kid that were just born a few weeks ago. Orlando warmed up milk in baby bottles so we could help feed them and Tory and Aden thought that was so cool! Once again we were surprised by the sucking power of these baby animals. It was hard to hang onto the bottle they were so sucking so strongly.

After the babies were fed, it was time to milk the cow. Orlando said they used to have a big dairy operation, but now they only have one cow. She produces 10 liters of milk a day — that’s a lot of milk for one family to use! Orlando brought the cow into the barn and gave her some feed to keep her pre-occupied, and then he demonstrated how to milk the cow. Tory was nervous to try it but Aden (always the confident one!) volunteered to go first. He reached right down there and began milking.

Of course, once Tory realized how much fun Aden was having (and that the cow wasn’t going to kick her in the teeth) she wanted to take a turn, too. Orlando reminded us how hard that baby calf was sucking on the bottles, so not to be shy when pulling and squeezing the cow’s teat to milk her. It was such a weird and cool experience! The kids loved it.

We gave the little bit of milk we’d collected to the dog and the cat, and then Orlando rapidly filled a 5 gallon bucket with the rest of the cow’s milk. Yolanda, Orlando’s mother, met us in the barn and brought some powdered cocoa along. Orlando asked if we wanted to taste the milk … sure! When in Rome, right? Yolanda poured some of the fresh, warm milk into mugs for all of us and added cocoa. Tory and Aden went nuts for it. I was so surprised! Neither of them like milk otherwise, but today they lapped it right up.

We followed Yolanda back to the farm kitchen to make homemade tortillas and fresh cheese with the milk we’d just collected.

After we all washed up, Yolanda invited us into her kitchen. She showed us how she adds a bacteria to the milk which causes the curds to separate from the whey. Then she asked Tory to stir the milk and in the last step, used a cheese cloth to drain the whey into a bowl. The curds (or the fat from the milk) are what she uses to make cheese and the whey (or, the protein) leftover is fed to the big, fat pig named Jefe (which means “boss” in Spanish).

Yolanda added salt to the curds and left them to rest in the bowl for 20 minutes. While we waited, we made homemade tortillas. Each of us got a ball of dough to pat into a small circle and then Yolanda fried them on top of the wood-burning stove.

When they were finished cooking, we all sat down at the kitchen table to eat our freshly made tortillas and cheese. For beverages, Yolanda offered us coffee and cane water to drink. Andi and Orlando had coffee and I picked cane water, thinking I was choosing a healthy option. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw how much sugar Yolanda scooped into my mug of water! I reminded myself that it’s all about the experience, so I enjoyed my cane water anyway — with a splash of fresh milk. Orlando said sugar cane water is a very traditional Costa Rican drink and they grow their own sugar cane right here on the farm.

We had the most amazing experience at Paradise Farm! Orlando and Yolanda were very kind and generous as they shared a piece of their life on the farm with us. We exchanged hugs and then returned to our rented airbnb. Tory and I did some math together, and then we decided to go for a walk in the countryside because the weather was so sunny and beautiful. The owners of the airbnb said they had a small one-mile trail on the property that they use for exercise. It’s wasn’t a trail they typically promote to their guests, but it would be fine for our family to use.

We set out for our walk, passing over a small bridge and through a field of grazing cows. Yesterday the owner showed Andi where the trail began, so we passed through the gate and began our trek. Right away, we noticed how steep the trail was! The ground was soggy and wet from all the overnight rain. It felt like walking on potting soil.

A few minutes into our walk Andi looked at me and said, “Did you bring any water with you?” I don’t think either of us realized how difficult this trail was going to be. Tory and Aden did great though! We continued along the path, descending down to a small stream that goes through the property and then back uphill again. Phew!

After our “easy” one-mile walk through the forest, we drove into town for the actual hike we’d signed up for today. Andi arranged for the same tour guide that led us through the Monteverde Cloud Forest to take us on a night hike to see nocturnal animals. The hike started at 6:00pm. Night hikes are a popular activity in this area, but we were nervous how it’d go for our kids. Aden typically turns into a pumpkin at 7:30pm, and going for an accidentally difficult walk BEFORE the night walk probably wasn’t the smartest thing we’ve done on this trip. I had a very good guess how tonight’s activity was going to go.

Anyway, we had some time to kill before our night walk began so we wandered around downtown Monteverde and the kids got ice cream. Andi ordered an espresso from Beso Espresso and proclaimed it the best coffee he’s had since we’ve been in Costa Rica. We still had about 30 minutes until we were due to meet Olman, our guide, so we drove over to the local soccer field and watched some kids playing. Aden was super into this for some reason, and shouted from the car window, “Go blue team!” It was pretty funny.

As the sun was setting, we met Olman at Santa Maria’s Night Hike. We bought tickets and he gave each of us flashlights to use. This felt exactly like our walk through the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Tons of tourists were gathered around the entrance with their respective tour guides, only this time they all had flashlights which somehow made it even more annoying.

Olman motioned for us to follow him and we broke off from the tourist pack. Right away, he picked something up off the ground and cupped it in the palm of his hands. “Ready for a magic trick?” he said. He opened his hand and tapped the top of a click beetle. Two dots on its back lit up brightly in the darkness. Cool! It’s beetle season in Costa Rica right now he told us.

As we walked along the trails into the darkness, we spotted an olingo (which is like a small raccoon) in the trees, a sleeping hummingbird, a bellbird, a mot mot, and some leaf-cutter ants. One of the other tour guides radioed Olman to say they spotted a sloth, so we walked over to that area of the forest to see if we could get a look ourselves.

The sloth was descending to the ground which it only does once a week to go to the bathroom. A big group of tourists were gathered there, shining their flashlights on it so they could see it in the darkness. It was neat to see a sloth, but something about the whole thing just bothered me. The poor sloth was trying to poop — give it some space! We stood on the trail for 15 minutes or so until the sloth finished its business and it then began climbing back up the tree. On her ascent, we saw a small baby sloth attached to the mom’s belly. Olman said the babies are black only when they are first born, so he estimated this baby sloth was only a few days old.

By this point, Aden was fading fast. I carried him as we walked along the trails which wasn’t an easy feat since it was pitch black outside. Andi followed behind me and shined his flashlight at my feet so I could see where I was going. Finally, Andi told Olman we were finished walking for the evening. I think we were all “guided tour-ed” out for the week.

It was after 8:00pm and neither Andi or I felt like cooking. We stopped for pizza at the Bon Appetit restaurant closest to our airbnb. The pizza looked fantastic! Andi ordered a prosciutto and spinach pizza for he and I to share, and a four-cheese pizza for Aden and Tory to share. Problem was, a little bit of the spicy sauce the restaurant included in the box spilled on the kid’s pizza without us realizing it. Aden took a bite of the spicy pizza and LOST HIS FREAKING MIND.

We were surprised by his outburst? Not really. I couldn’t be mad at Aden’s behavior because I know we pushed him to his limit today. And, the pizza was spicy. Clearly, it was time for bed. Andi tucked him in while I cleaned up dinner and then we all turned in for the night. Tomorrow, we leave Monteverde for “Montetuna” as Tory is calling it. La Fortuna is actually where we’re heading, but I can see where how she’d be confused given we just visited Montezuma and are now in Monteverde.

Friday, March 1

La Fortuna is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Monteverde, but we weren’t in a rush to get there this morning. We woke up at the usual time and the kids ate breakfast while I did some yoga in the upstairs bedroom. This view! It was so peaceful and good medicine for my soul.

Andi had breakfast waiting for me when I finished — farm fresh eggs and steamed broccoli. After we ate, we packed up our things and headed off for La Fortuna. The road to get there was actually in decent shape, but there was a lot of construction along the way which made the drive take forever. We’re beginning to sense a theme here …

As we edged closer to Lake Arenal, we could see Volcano Arenal in the distance. Even though we visited this area two years ago and saw the volcano then, the sight of it today was still magnificent! The skies were clear so we could see a great view of the volcano. Simultaneously, Tory and Aden said “wow!” from the backseat. I didn’t snap a picture of the volcano as we drove in but I did get one of Lake Arenal, the biggest lake in Costa Rica. As we inched closer to La Fortuna, we stopped for lunch at one of the only restaurants along the highway. It was called Caballo Negra and oddly enough, was a German restaurant. We sat on the restaurant’s back patio and enjoyed the beautiful scenery while we ate Weiner schnitzel and homemade corned beef.

La Fortuna is the most popular tourist destination in all of Costa Rica. It’s located 11 miles from Volcano Arenal. In 1968, after hundreds of years of being dormant, the volcano unexpectedly erupted and destroyed 3 towns in this area, but La Fortuna (or El Burio, as it was named back then) was spared. Residents changed the name of their town to La Fortuna which means “the fortunate” in Spanish. Since then, La Fortuna has become a booming tourist town with its combination of rainforest and volcano attractions.

We almost skipped La Fortuna as part of our Costa Rican adventure because we’ve been here before, but since we were driving right by it as we make our way to the East Coast, we figured we might as well stop. This visit will be different for us anyway because we’ve booked an airbnb right in the heart of downtown La Fortuna. All of the other airbnbs we’ve stayed in during this trip have been outside city limits.

We arrived in La Fortuna around 1:00pm and stopped for groceries and ice cream. There is a POPS ice cream store within walking distance of our airbnb which could be trouble! I’ve become slightly obsessed with their hand-dipped ice cream bars. Tory tripped on the sidewalk, so she and Aden were both crying as we walked. He was crying because I carried Tory and I wouldn’t carry him too. Good thing ice cream cures everything.

The meat market in La Fortuna is the crown jewel of all the shops here. It’s large, takes up real estate on a main corner downtown, and is sparkling clean. It also had loud techno music blaring from a big speaker. I found it so interesting to stand back and watch the commotion as Andi selected cuts of meat for us. There’s obviously a rank among employees as one butcher took his order, one employee wrapped up the selection of meats, and one person handled payment.

We checked into our new airbnb which was secretly tucked behind a restaurant on the main road through town. It has an interesting layout...

Pretty sure this place used to be a business that was converted into an airbnb. It’s big — 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms — but very oddly designed. Two of the bedrooms are located down the main hallway next to the kitchen/dining area and the other two bedrooms are located through a back patio door. I didn’t like the idea of Aden and Tory sleeping through a separate door away from Andi and I. The bathrooms are the strangest part though — they are still compartmentalized in stalls, so there’s 3 toilets in the same bathroom. The house was clean and the owner was friendly and accommodating though, so we didn’t have much to complain about. Plus, we’re only staying for two nights. A few minutes after we settled in, the owner returned with two cocktails and two mocktails for the four of us which was very thoughtful. They were from the restaurant next door. It’s really hard to complain about the weird layout of the place now that he brought us free drinks!

A little while later, we walked back downtown to grab something to eat for dinner. Tory and Aden got fried chicken and Fresca, their new favorite drink, from a fast-food place. Then we took their food to-go and I sat with them in the town square so they could eat while Andi walked to a sushi place to grab dinner for he and I. There was plenty of entertainment happening in the park to keep us occupied — lots of Costa Rican families playing in the park with their families, people running for exercise, a small band of teenagers marching down the street with musical instruments and costumes, and all the commotion of downtown nightlife.

When Andi returned, we all walked back to our airbnb. Andi and I ate our sushi while Tory and Aden watched the iPad. Tory decided to sleep in the same bed as Aden that night so we’d all be in the two bedrooms located in the main part of the house. Secretly, I felt better about that too.

Tomorrow, we’ve got some fun things planned in La Fortuna.