We were being picked up today at 7.30am, so another early breakfast. The walk to the restaurant took in a large winding wooden staircase. Pete really like the staircase and made me pose several times, I think the heat is maybe getting to him.
One of the big pulls in the area is the Cloud Forest.
This cloud forest was first ‘taken over’ by Quakers who decided to leave Alabama during the 1950s Korean War. Looking for a place to settle that would provide a simple life.
When Costa Rican farmers tried to take some of the land the original Quaker families joined forces with interested scientists to protect it and doing so increased the size.
It is very much a place of great scientific interest. What exactly a cloud forest I wasn’t certain , I guessed a forest in a cloud. But the real definition that a cloud forest, also called montane rainforest, vegetation of tropical mountainous regions in which rainfall is often heavy and condensation is persistent because of the cooling of moisture-laden air currents deflected upward by the mountains.
I don’t quite understand it but anyway normally the place is under a cloud and very misty but on the day we visited the sky was clear and the weather unseasonably good.
It was another day when we bumped into Shish and Joyti, it was lovely to share it with another couple. We also met another couple, Linda and Dee from California who were anti Republican and Trump. Linda said that things were so bad she no longer speaks to her 7 siblings due their Trumpian views and pro gun stance. It sounded as divided as the UK is becoming.
Our guide today was Giovanni. He was very enthusiastic and told us he had a degree in forestry. To pass he had to know about all the 1000s of species in Costa Rica.
Just before this photograph Giovanni made us huddle around a leaf as he had seen an interesting beetle, only so say ” ah no it is bird poo”.
Another thing he kept saying was we were in the rrrrrrrrainforest not the rainforest because it rrrrrrrrains alot. Apparently annually there is 8 feet of rain. That said there are changes and the cycle of some of the wildlife and fauna etc has changed and some things are happening four months earlier.
We got to walk over bridges again, which thankfully more stable than in the hanging gardens.
Giovanni said that long term studies in the area had concluded that there are more plants etc growing above ground than there are on the ground because of the humidity. These are called epiphytes, organisms that grow on the surface of other plants and trees.
There are more than 500 known species of orchids, but as Giovanni pointed out new species of plants, insects etc are constantly being discovered. Of the known 9000 plants in Costa Rica 3000 are from the cloud forest.
On the way back to the start of the walk we saw a Resplendent Quetzal, they feed off the avocado trees and enjoy the high elevation of the trees. Although they are the national bird of Guatemala the Monteverde Cloud Forest has been deemed to be the best place in the world to see them.
At the end of the visit we saw loads of beautiful colourful hummingbirds. There are 53 known species of hummingbirds in Costa Rica. There wings move around 60 times a second and they need to consume three times their body weight a day.
We got the driver to drop us off at Sant Elana the nearest “town” to the hotel and went for a drink with Shish and Joyti. Trying to have new taste experiences so went for a soursop coconut smoothie. Felt very wrong but tasted very good – soursop high in vitamin C and as still feeling ropey it was medicinal.
We then went souvenir shopping.
Pete discovered he was a dead ringer for a sloth.
We had a while to wait for public transport. It would be the first time we hadn’t been ferried around – so it was good to navigate. With time on our hands it was time to eat some more at the Treehouse Cafe where we had the most delicious and tasty gazpacho. It was built around a tree.
When we got back to Fonda Vela we had a swim and a hot, hot, hot tub.
On the way back to our room we saw an agouti. It was incredibly cute.
Agoutis are part of the rat family and so maybe they don’t think of them as so cute there. They act like squirrels.Agoutis are known as jungle gardeners. This is because they bury nuts and seeds and then forget all about them…allowing them to grow. How very helpful!
They are monogamous, meaning they stay with the same partner for life.
We topped the day off with pizza and pool – which I inevitably played badly.
Random Acts of Travelling 