Day Trip to Monteverde

Wednesday, February 20

Getting Started

We rise, but not quite shine, at 5:00am and we are at the van pickup site by 5:45, just barely light. Our friends, Janet and Richard, and Bob and I have booked a long day trip to Monteverde National Park. We are going with Coco Tours, a small tour company in El Coco. We are joined by a woman staying at Coco Sunset, a development right next to Las Palmas. Cheryl is about our age, athletic, friendly, and spunky. Our driver is Geraldo (pronounced hair-all-doh). He speaks good English and is friendly, entertaining, and informative. We are a congenial group traveling in an air-conditioned van.

Bob and our driver Geraldo at Monteverde, Costa Rico. (Photo by Connie)

 

On the Road

The ride to Monteverde was long (about 4 hours) and eventful. The first hour and a half was in the flat lowlands and was on paved road. The remainder was on very bumpy, narrow gravel roads that wound snakelike up into the mountains. There were many curves, sometimes hairpin, on roads almost too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and with deep ditches or steep drop-offs on one or both sides - no guard rails. And, to add to the fun, the van had very poor shock absorbers. It was almost like riding a bucking bronco in spots, where you had to hold on to something in order to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling!

But the views were spectacular! We had a clear, sunny day, even when we reached the cloud forest. The climb took us from sea level to 8,000 feet! Along the way, we saw beautiful scenery and many interesting things. The Monteverde area is coffee-growing country. We stopped to take a look at one hillside of coffee bushes, and Bob took a video:

Countryside and coffee plantation, on the way to Monteverde, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

 

Monteverde: Hummingbird Exhibit

The first thing we did upon arrival was to visit the hummingbird exhibit. This is basically a courtyard in which several hummingbird feeders have been placed. This garden attracts 14 different species of hummingbirds, as shown in the photo below.

Hummingbird identification poster, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Hummingbirds at feeders, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

 

Monteverde: Sky Walk

After the hummingbird exhibit, we set off on the Sky Walk. This is a trail through the rainforest that includes eight suspension foot bridges, most at the level of, or over, the forest canopy. The walk took us about two hours. We saw lots of interesting forest vegetation, but we were disappointed not to see any birds or animals. The vegetation was very dense. Bob's video provides a sense of the walk:

Sky Walk - rainforest trail and hanging bridges - Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

 

After the walk, we had a tasty Costa Rican lunch at the park lodge. During lunch, we spied the only animal we saw outside the exhibits - an anteater ambling through the garden. (No photo, unfortunately.)

Lodge at Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

Monteverde: Butterfly Exhibit

After lunch came two guided tours. The first was the tour through the butterfly enclosure. A guide took us through, describing the butterfly life cycle, identifying the species we saw, and helping us to spot the camoflaged ones at rest.

Janet and Bob with guide in the butterfly enclosure, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Guide describing coloration of the Morpho butterfly, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

The enclosure was filled with gorgeous plantings and fountains and such, but we all agreed that the butterflies were fairly sparse compared to other places like this that we had seen. Still, it was an interesting 45 minutes.

Butterfly exhibit, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Richard photographing in butterfly exhibit, Monteverde N.P., Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

Monteverde: Reptile Exhibit

Next we had a guided tour of the Reptile Exhibit. All the animals were in secure glass enclosures. (Whew!) No flash photography allowed. We did not take pictures.

We saw mostly snakes, but a few frogs and lizards. Most interesting was learning the distinction between vipers ( poisonous snakes) and other snakes (non-poisonous). There are about 200 species of snakes in Costa Rica. We saw about eighteen. We learned that there were typically 5-10 deaths a year from snake bites, mostly workers in the sugar cane fields and coffee plantations.

One interesting factoid was learning the difference between the Coral Snake (poisonous) and the False Coral (non-poisonous). The False Coral is banded in a pattern of red and black together; the Coral Snake is banded with yellow between the red and black. The guide taught us this ditty: "Red and black, he's a friend, Jack; red next to yellow, will kill a fellow." (No photos - too bad.) Other snakes we saw included a Boa Constrictor, a Fer-de-Lance (considered the most dangerous because it is aggressive and has a longer strike range than other snakes), a Costa Rican Rattlesnake, and a little green tree snake that lives in bushes and is particularly harmful to coffee pickers. The most fatal bite, it appears, comes from the Coral Snake. The venom will paralyze all body systems within 30 minutes. (Enough about snakes!)

Also very interesting were the Poisonous Dart Frogs. First, they are very tiny - maybe the size of a fingernail. They are hard to spot unless you know where to look. Second, they can be plain green or they can be very colorful. Different kinds have different markings in reds, blacks, a vibrant blue. Their skin exudes a poison that can kill an animal if ingested. If a human were to hold one on a finger, he would be OK provided he washed his hands thoroughly afterwards.

The Return Trip

Finally, it was time to leave. Geraldo had discovered that a tire had gone flat on the drive up (no wonder!). He had replaced it with a spare, but we still had to stop at a nearby village on the mountain to get it repaired. This took about 45 minutes.

Van tire being repaired, near Monteverde, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

On our way again, still coming down off the high mountain, we spotted a rainstorm on another mountain. We stopped to enjoy the view and Bob took a video. See if you can see the rainbow, which looked quite vivid to us.

Storm on distant mountain, near Monteverde, Costa Rica. Look for the rainbow. (Video by Bob)

 

Coming down the mountain was a scary, exhilarating, white-knuckle ride. Fortunately, we got down into the flat land before dark. It was a long ride home, about four and a half hours including the tire-repair stop. We did stop briefly for a snack in Canas, and Bob and I both had delicious fruit smoothies from a local smoothie stand. We are addicted to these smoothies, so popular here in Costa Rica, whether made with fruits, vegetables, or coffees!

Finally, at about 8:00 pm we are home - four exhausted gringos! What a great day. La Pura Vida.

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