43. Monteverde - 29 May

On my way from the Punta Arenas ferry to the Monteverde bus, (which might I add was a much longer walk in the Costa Rican sun than I had anticipated and left us all red & drenched in sweat!), I met Aussie Renee (originally from Newcastle) and Canadian Matt.  

It was nice to have some company for the half hour walk and to help find the bus stop! 

We found it easily enough and didn't wait too long to board the bus which, took 3.5 hours to Monteverde (only1.5 hours if you have a car!).

We got off in Santa Elena and were immediately bombarded by people asking if we had accommodation and did we want to stay at their hostel ... I grabbed all the flyers and ended up following Matt & Renee for a little while before I found the trip advisor recommendation of Cabina Vista Al Golfo.

On the way I'd already seen my first sloth and taken pics - yay!

At $15 a night I got another private room but got upgraded to private facilities - what a bargain!  Turned out to be a noisy room though, as it was close to reception and where everyone walked past.

Rather than being my usual indecisive self, I booked in straight away with the tour desk at reception for a Santa Elena Reserve guided hike and a ziplining tour.

I then went out for a delicious dinner at 'El Marque' and home to bed.

The next morning I was ready for the 6.30am pick up to go to the Santa Elena Reserve.

On the bus I met the others from my host - Anna travelling alone and from Germany, and Paul and Kathleen, a couple from Oregon.

On the hike we would not have seen much of anything without the guide! He had a great telescope that he showed us a howler monkey and the resplendent Quetzal in ....

I decided at that point not to bother going to Monteverde National Park aswell if that's all I would see...

The clouds swirling round the forest was beautiful but I wanted monkeys and more dammit!  And apparently if I hadn't skipped Manuel Antonio I would have seen them as sooooo many people have told me how beautiful it is and how much wildlife is there!!!

That afternoon I was picked up by Greenin from the Original Canopy Tour company for my ziplining adventure.

There was thunder & lightening not long after we arrived at the site, so we had to wait for the storm to pass.

I spent the time chatting with Nadia and her male colleagues from New Jersey, and Elizabeth from Florida.

When we finally went zip lining it was worth the wait and lots of fun but not scary at all!

That night I stayed in to dye my hair ... I was nervous about going to the salon so bought a packet dye. There was only a couple of blonde ones to chose from so grabbed one and took it home.

The instructions were in Spanish but I used the translator app on my phone and thought I'd worked them out ...

I put the dye in, left it for the desired time and washed it out ....

Aahhhh! I had yellow roots!!!

I ended up spending hours googling ways to fix it ... I need to get silver toner asap!! Or vinegar or ketchup! s***!!!!

And even worse my face is still burnt and have horrible big sweat pimples from my hike ... So bad and nothing like I've ever had before!!! Not feeling so hot now!

The next morning was my 'jeep-boat-jeep' transfer to La Fortuna.

I was picked up on time by Hernan, who asked if I'd like to ride in front and I accepted.

I was getting around with my hippy headband on to cover my yellow roots and a mask of makeup to cover the large red eruptions all over my face!

Hernan chatted to me the whole hour or so in Spanish so forcing me to flex my vocabulary and learn some new words.  Typical Latino he was flirting a bit but then dropped me like a hot potato once we arrived at the boat!

The boat ride across the lake was lovely with a view of Volcano Arenal the whole way.

We were then met by another shuttle that took us to our hotel.

So a couple of observations in Costa Rica - Firstly, there are Americans everywhere! I think it should be their 52nd state!

Secondly, there are so many down syndromes?! I may have seen one in South America but a few since being here already? What's with that? 

Thirdly, it's damn expensive!!!