Monteverde - Rainforest adventures

After a chill night with Reid (from Sacramento) in Puntarenas, we got up early the next day to catch the bus to Monteverde. Turns out the bus didn't leave from Puntarenas til 1:15pm, so we took a taxi to the Pan American Highway and hopped on the 9 o'clock bus from San Jose.
The road to Monteverde is an unpaved, trechearous winding and narrow road up into the mountains. At one point on the journey, the giant bus was taking up too much space on the road and a SUV ended up smacking into the side of it. Vehicles involved in accidents are not to be moved until the accident inspectors and police check it out and record some information. Of course, since the bus was taking up the entire road, no cars could get by (only dirtbikes), and being an hour away from civilization, there were a lot of people being held up for quite some time. It must happen all the time considering there was no room for 2 vehicles to pass on this narrow corner, so the real Costa Rican experience it was.
Finally, after waiting outside the bus and chatting with some midwives from New York, we were back on our way to Monteverde. We arrived and immediately checked into the super busy Pension Santa Elena, where Reid, Nicole and Glynn (from New York) and I shared a dorm. Soon after settling in and registering for some exciting adventures through the staff, we went for a quick bite to eat and some beers before catching the shuttle to our twilight tour.
As soon as we started the hike, our tour guide spotted an owl through the trees. These guides are worth the extra penny, because there is no way in hell I would've spotted the wildlife we saw on our own. Carrying on after the sunset, we managed to see a couple pit vipers and another deadly snake, two tarantulas, a sloth, some TINY leaf frogs and some giant grasshoppers. Also we managed to disturb a woodpecker from it's slumber and spot a hummingbird buzzing about in the trees. We also took a couple minutes to kill all the flashilights and just enjoy the night sounds of the rainforest...an incredible experience and highly recommended.
After our hike, we went to a cafe that is built around a large tree for some eats and chats, followed by a trip to the bar. It was a fun night chilling with the 3 from the bus and a couple from New York (one Russian, one Ukraine).
This morning, we all hopped on a shuttle to SelvaTura park where we got geared up in harnesses, helmets and gloves to do some fast paced, zip-line canopy tours. There was a total of 15 zip lines all of different lenghts and heights off the ground, but definately another amazing adventure. Not much wildlife spotted, but the view from above the tree tops was extraordinary. Again...definately reccommended. Following that adventure, we walked through the dense forest and enjoyed the views from a number of cable bridges that tower over the tree tops...beautiful. It was a good morning for sure, and exhausting as well. When we got back to our hostel/guesthouse, Reid, Nicole and Glynnis were caught a Jeep-Boat-Jeep to La Fortuna. I think it's just bus ride, boat ride, bus ride, but had to bid them farewell and decided to spend the rest of the evening just chilling here in Santa Elena.
That is exactly what I am doing right now in the mild, humid, mountain climate and loving every minute of it.
Until next time...keep on rockin!
-Mitchell-

Photo: Not mine, but an idea of what the zip line tours were like this morning. Instead of tehre being two people though, it's just one person at a time cruising at speeds from 30-60kph.