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I've had a lovely time at Monteverde although I have finally experienced some of the rainy season I have been expecting all week. My bus left at 6.30am and it was about a 4.5hr bus trip. The reason it takes so long, is the last 30km of the road or so is all dirt so that part of the trip alone takes 2 hrs as it is mainly uphill, fairly narrow and there are some road works taking place. Got to one spot and I thought there was no chance we were going to get around the bend but we did.
I got off the bus at a town called Santa Elena, a small town about 5km from the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest. I met a lady on the bus, Sabine, who came with me to the place where I had booked a room for the night - private room cost $10.00. As I only had a limited time I booked a treetop walkway thru Selvatura Park, another reserve in the area. Sabine also booked it and we were picked up at 12.30pm and taken out.
Well, once we got there, it started to pour down. At least I finally got the chance to try out the waterproof pants and pack cover that Kath had leant to me in Colombia - they worked a treat. Not many animals out, I'm sure they were all looking at us like we were idiots for being out in this weather. It died down a little towards the end. We saw people crossing on the zip lines that they also have in the parks. There were 8 different suspension bridges that we walked over which gave a beautiful view of the canopy and tree tops.
At the end, we visited the hummingbird garden. These creatures are amazing. To be in amongst so many of them, they create quite a noise with their flapping of the wings. I've been told the smaller ones flap approx 80 times per second, the bigger ones 50x. Very beautiful colours and so fast.
Back to town and we went and booked our ticket to get the bus to Monteverde Cloud Forest the next day at 7.20am. We also booked a guided tour. We visited an Insectarium and got a close look at some of the spiders and insects around and then to the frog pond for some more info on these creatures. After a lovely hot shower, we met up and had dinner at The Treehouse, a restaurant that is built around a tree.
Yesterday morning got the bus out to the Forest. Only 5kms away, but it took 30mins to get there, once again because of the roads. We assumed we would be with a big group for our tour but there was only the 2 of us. Straight away he showed us a female Quetzel. These birds are very hard to spot and people come from far and wide to see them. They are the national bird of Guatemala but can no longer be found there. We then spotted the male one. Guess we were lucky. We took about 2.5hrs to wander the trails. Learnt lots of interesting info about cloud forests, different animals and trees. Saw a sloth that was quite active which is unusual for them, a hummingbird nest, stick insect and lots of plants. It's quite beautiful in the forest, very green, cool and water is dripping constantly.
We had a quick visit to their hummingbird garden and a drink before saying our goodbyes. Sabine stayed on to go for another walk and I had to get the bus back to town. Had a couple of hours before the bus left for San Jose so visited the Orchid Garden. So many beautiful flowers, and some of them absolutely tiny. Lovely colours and scents. It then started to pour down again, welcome to the wet season.
After some lunch, it was on the bus back to San Jose. Arrived back about 7.30pm and then it was time to battle the taxi drivers. They don't like to use their meters and as soon as you jump off the bus they ask you if you want a taxi. You tell them where you are going and they give you a price. They all said 3000 colones, I just laughed. When I come down originally, the guy used the meter and it was 750colones (550 colones = US$1). However, they think because it is dark and you a lone female you will say yes. I walked to the corner and flagged a cab down. Since it was a dodgy area, I jumped in and agreed to pay 2000. Still too much but not worth getting caught in that area. He was a nice guy.
So, I have today in San Jose before flying to Quito tomorrow. Until then....
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