When I woke up at 4:30 AM I could not lay in bed any longer. I think laying in bed so long caused my back to hurt! I got up, got my shower, and shaved.
We dressed in long pants and our hiking boots for the visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve this morning. We needed hiking boots because we were warned that the trails could be very muddy.
At 6:30 AM we went downstairs for breakfast. There were three tables set because there were
more guests in the lodge now. We had a fruit plate and toast with the papya-pineapple jam and I ordered pancakes with ham. Bob ordered the "Desayuno Typico" - typical Costa Rican breakfast - this consisted of scrambled eggs, gallo pinto (black beans and rice), and fried plantains.
The pancakes were melt-in-your-mouth soft. The syrup was brought to the table in a small metal bowl and I had to ladle it over the cakes with a spoon. The ham was not what I expected - it was simply cold cuts - and they were still cold!
While we were eating the new guests in Room 12 came to their table. They seemed to be able to speak French, English, and some Spanish. I think they were from Canada.
We watched the cloud roll over the mountain and we were worried that it might rain.
After breakfast we went out and walked the 15 minute walk up the muddy main road to the park. Trapp Family Lodge is the closest lodging to the park.
At the entrance to the park I stopped to put the camera on the tripod and take a picture of
ourselves using the self-timer feature. Then we bought our tickets. Admission was $17, but if we wanted a guide, it would be another $17 -
per person!
I was skeptical, but I knew a guide would add value to the tour, so we agreed to a guided tour. I do not regret that decision.
Our guide, Maria, studied tropical biology at the national university in San Jose. She carried a small telescope and tripod with her as we walked onto one of the nine trails in the park. She showed us various flowers, plants, birds, and insects. She explained the survival and defense strategies of each one. We saw strangler fig trees, hollow trees with symbiotic ant colonies living inside, millipedes, numerous epiphytes, lichens, moss, liverwort, ferns - just a huge amount of diversity in the forest!
We never saw the monkeys but we heard their calls up in the trees. One of the calls sounded like a gate on rusty hinges.
From out of the trees a sound like the Jetson's flying car sounded and this big black thing flew
down the trail behind Bob. Maria became excited and followed it. It was a scarab bettle looking for wood to munch on!
Just after looking at a hummingbird nest hanging in the top of a tree we turned around on one of the trails and passed our New York friends from the Cerro Chato mountain climb!
We walked back to the front of the park. On the way back I noticed a crab on the trail - Maria had almost stepped on him! She said it was a land crab which eats dead things, carion.
At the front of the park Maria got word that the rare resplendant Quetzal had been spotted on another trail so we hurried, and soon ran down the path. We saw the bird high in a tree resting on a tree limb. Without a guide we never would have seen this bird. We were lucky.
After this we went to view hummingbirds at the feeders. The little birds were as numerous as insects! Then we bought some coffee to drink at a small cafeteria. We also bought extra bags of coffee as gifts to give at home.
We left Maria a nice tip, and then we boarded The Bus for the short trip down the road to the
lodge. We had to wait in the bus about half an hour before it started filling up with lunchtime riders and pulled out.
At the Trapp Family Lodge we got our luggage from the room and checked out. We waited for the bus in the lounge. I read a magazine and Bob napped.
Carlos, our driver, came for us at 1:00 PM. The Interbus van/buss would take us to Alejuela, near the San Jose airport. We loaded up and pulled out, but Interbus had to get two more passengers before leaving Santa Elena. One girls, an Asian name Grace, from New York City, and another girl.
We went out of Santa Elena on the bumpy country road and we were treated to spectacular views of the Gulf of Nicoya and Pacific Ocean from the heights on the mountains!
Soon we arrived at a paved road that took us to CR1 - the Interamericana Highway - a paved highway that runs from Alaska all the way down North America, Central America, and South America to Chile with only a small interruption at the Panama-Columbia border. We headed south toward Alejuela.
Carlos stopped at a roadside souvenir store so that we could use the restrooms. We bought some exotic macadamia liquor, some hot sauce, a map, and two Cokes. They had nothing to eat and we were hungry because we did not get lunch. I told Carlos, "
Tenemos hambre" (we have hunger), and I think he understood what I meant because he stopped again a few miles down the road at a Tico food counter. I ordered dos queso-burguesas to go! They came with greasy fries, but it stopped us from being hungry.
Carlos had the radio on the entire time and at first it sounded like phone-in talk radio or politics, but after awhile of listening I realized it was a sports program and a soccer game was being narrated to us.
After four hours of travel we arrived at Alajuela and let one girl off at the airport. Next Carlos took us to the Hampton Inn and let us off. Here we had to wait for an hour and a half for the next bus to take us to our inn and the next segment of our Costa Rican adventure.
We went inside and got two Coke Zeros and Chex Mix and waited at a table. We watched a soccer game on TV and then the news.
At 6:30 PM we went outside and soon a bus with "
TOURISMO" printed on the side arrived with a driver named "
Randall" looking for us.
Randall drove us to the Orquideas Inn, but it was dark and he took a "
short cut" through backstreets. Bob and I were a little nervous, but he took us to where he was supposed to.
When we checked in we found out that we had been "
upgraded" to a de luxe room from a standard room. The clerk could not tell me why, she only shrugged.
A motorized three-wheeled cart took us and our bags up the hill to Room 27. We unpacked and got ready for our Pacuare River adventure in the morning. We watched CNN on the TV and then slept.
Lonely Planet Guide gives
Orquideas Inn high ratings, but in the dark, and from what we had seen, we were doubtful why. Maybe it looks nicer in the daylight.
Last night I completed the biography of emporer Hadrian. Then I started Celia Rivenbark's humor called You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start In The Morning.
