The Travels of 4 Couch Potatoes: How Green Was My Mountain

I thought that the road in Arenal National Park was bad. Our next destination was even worse. Having done our homework, we knew that the roads to Monteverde were complete and utter crap. They made the area essentially inaccessible to non 4-wheel drive vehicles during the rainy season. The bad reputation of the infrastructure compelled us to rent a SUV instead of a much less-expensive sedan. Some folks even believe that the locals intentionally keep the roads in bad condition to minimize traffic to the region. Monteverde National Park is not very far from La Fortuna on a map. So why go to this area if we are already visiting Arenal? Mainly because there is a significant difference in elevation. While Arenal has a rain forest, Monteverde’s altitude makes it a cloud forest.

However, the steep increase in elevation from Arenal to Monteverde has prevented the locals from building a road directly linking these two areas. Instead, visitors would either have to make a 3-4 hour circuitous drive around Lake Arenal or cut across it by boat. Since we had our own rental car, we were going to take the scenic road. And scenic it was indeed.

As we left our hotel, the clouds finally cleared so that we could see the volcano's peak.

The area to the west of La Fortuna was less sparsely developed and touristy. There were great views overlooking the picturesque Lake Arenal. Small farms, boutique shops, and B&B’s dotted the landscape.

We made a pit-stop at one such placed called the Lucky Bug Gallery.

We had read some good reviews about the place on the TripAdvisor. While that website is wrought with bogus reviews and people with horrendous taste, they were spot on about Lucky Bug. It is a quaint B&B, art gallery, and bird sanctuary all rolled into one.

The Wife mainly wanted to peruse their gift shop full of unique art pieces crafted by local Ticos.

The Kids were drawn to...

...their friendly cats and dogs.

Because the property looked so impressive, we decided to relax and order some smoothies.

The smoothies (blackberry, mango, guanabana, and passion fruit) were so big we couldn't finish them.

The place is run by Rob, a retired California expat, and Monika, a widowed German lady who built the place in the mid 1990’s. They have several different types of birds that flit around the trees near the restaurant. Unfortunately, we just missed a pair of toucans that had been there the previous day.

Grey-headed chachalaca

Black-cheeked woodpecker

A female great-tailed grackle

A Baltimore Oriole

Great kiskadee

We also spotted a huge male iguana across the pond.

We resumed our journey which took us through the town of Tilaron on the South side of Arenal Lake. Immediately from there, the quality of the roads turned terrible. Instead of smooth asphalt, the streets were “paved” with uneven sized rocks juxtaposed with large craters.

There were literally boulder sized rocks sticking up in the middle of the road.

Our average speed for the 1-2 hour journey was a mere 20 kilometers per hour. It was so bad that we gave The Boy some Dramamine because we thought he was going to get motion sickness again from the bumpy ride. The worst part of the trip was that my cheap Styrofoam cooler kept making an annoying squeaking sound on every bump.

Although the roads were rough, the countryside was beautiful to behold.

We pulled into the Monteverde Lodge and Gardens a little after noon. This ecolodge is geared towards those who are more interested in getting in touch with nature. The hotel has walking trails, a butterfly garden, and no televisions. They had complimentary snacks and Café Britt coffee in the lobby as well as rubber boots and umbrellas available to loan to guests.

The secluded Monteverde Lodge and Gardens

Since it never rained while we were there,
we never had to use their equipment.

Since the butterfly garden was adjacent to the lobby, we stopped by to look at some of its inhabitants. The structure was essentially a greenhouse with lots of plants and flowers appealing to butterflies.

The large blue morpho is colorful while flying...

...but fools predators with its false "eye" when it lands.

Postman butterfly

Tiger longwing

Sara longwing

A creepy looking moth also made the garden its home.

The butterfly population is replenished by this wall of cocoons.

Our hotel room included an observation nook, but we never saw anything outside.

The bathroom had nice toilet paper and
enough bath towels for all four of us.

For lunch, we drove less than five minutes to the town of Santa Elena. We dined at a unique restaurant called the Treehouse.

The eatery is build around a large tree that grows...

...through the center of the dining
area located on the second story.

This tree and the nice view overlooking the main street are the main draws for this establishment. The food was merely mediocre.

Milkshakes and fruit juice smoothies.

Treehouse pizza

Seabass fillet with garlic

An assortment of traditional Tico meats and sides

We had arranged for a private night hike with a company called Forest Alive! It is another local company that got excellent reviews from TripAdvisor. Being the peak season for tourism, the owner was unavailable to lead our tour. However, his associate met us at our hotel and then turned us over to Jorge, an independent guide contracted by the company. These guides can be hit or miss. We scored big with Jorge. As a third generation inhabitant of the Monteverde area, he was extremely enthusiastic about showing us the local plants and animals.

We were first driven to the Monteverde Wildlife Refuge. It consisted of a private estate accessed via a long driveway which led to surrounding trails. We wanted to do a night hike because many animals and insects are more active and easier to find once the sun has set. We had brought along our headlights from home specifically for this hike. However, we ended up leaving them behind at the hotel because they would hinder the guide’s nighttime vision if accidentally shone in his face. Instead, the company provided us with flashlights which were actually more useful as we mainly used them to illuminate the wildlife.

There were several other groups doing night hikes, some with as many as a dozen people. Jorge tried to steer clear of these larger groups. However, the guides did work together and let each other know when they spotted something interesting. This cooperation maximized the experience for everyone.

This pygmy tree frog...

...was even smaller than this centipede.

This grey fox and this coatimundi
showed no animosity to one another.

Despite all the flashlights pointed at it, this kinkajou tries to catch some sleep.

The Mexican orange-kneed tarantula

Though brown under normal light, bark
scorpions are luminescent under UV rays.

The bulge on this side-striped palm pit viper
means that it has eaten in the last two days.

A keel-billed toucan rests in a tree.

The Wife really hoped to see a sloth in the wild on this trip. After having been unsuccessful in finding one in Arenal, we were running out of chances. Jorge took us to a spot where there was a high chance of spotting one. It had been there the night before, but it wasn't there this evening. Over the next two hours, Jorge looked up and around every tree looking for one for us to see, but to no avail. We were very fortunate in finding lots of other interesting wildlife, but the sloth eluded us.

After two hours of fruitless searching, we finished the tour and headed back to the building to catch our ride back to our hotel. However, Jorge was not to be deterred. He was a man on a mission. After checking that The Kids were still fine with doing more walking, he led us up the long driveway while examining every treetop in the process. It was not until we emerged onto the town road did we find our elusive prey. We had finally found a sloth. Instead of being in a tree, this male sloth was shimmying across some telephone wires. Cognizant of our discovery, the sloth made his escape across the wires, down the telephone pole, and into the nearest copse of thick bushes. He was so slow that the process took about fifteen minutes.

The sloth shimmied down this telephone line.
His claws are prominently displayed.

The large eyes of this fully-grown adult sloth gave it some "cute" features.

We finally called our taxi to come and get us. By far, we were one of the last groups to leave (the other Forest Alive private tour was also finishing at that time too). Most of the other groups had missed seeing the sloth. We were really grateful that we had Jorge guiding us. Although he had been up since 6 AM giving an all day tour to other clients, he took the extra half-hour to find that sloth for us. He even wrote down every interesting animal or insect we saw on the night hike so that we could remember the experience. We saw and learned more in those three hours than we had in three days in Arenal.

*****

Wednesday, December 24

We were planning on doing a lot of walking on our one full day in Monteverde. Unlike most of the other hotels that we stayed in while visiting Costa Rica, the Monteverde Lodge opened at 6 AM for breakfast. This would allow the guests to have something to eat before their early excursions (bird watchers keep ungodly hours).

Typical Costa Rican breakfast

Eggs Benedict with bacon

Fresh fruit with yogurt

Jorge again would be our guide today for a half-day tour in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Since we had our own car, he met us at our hotel and guided us to the place. Tickets were fairly inexpensive. With the higher altitude, the air was cool enough that shorts were unnecessary. We brought along our binoculars and camera equipment while Jorge had his high-powered spotting scope.

Unlike the previous night, our expectations on finding wildlife were low. During the daytime, forest animals are just not active. However, we did hope to see the jewel of the cloud forest—the colorful quetzel. In both Mayan and Aztec mythology, the quetzel was a divine figure, representing the god of the air. Leaders would wear headdresses made with quetzel feathers. Nowadays, their numbers have severely diminished with continued loss of their habitats. Jorge noted that only about 100 individuals still inhabited the Monteverde park.

Along the trails, Jorge pointed interesting plants and insects, explaining their roles in the cloud forest ecosystem.

There's only one season in the rainforest so trees never stop growing. Therefore,
they don't develop internal rings. This makes it difficult to tell a tree's age.

It's hard to imagine that this caterpillar may grow into a beautiful butterfly.

Monteverde has over 400 different orchid
species including this one with tiny flowers.

This is a full-sized fruit from a ripened wild tomato plant.

These huge gumballs are used by monkeys to groom their hair.

The bright red leaves have caused people
to name this the "hot lips" plant.

During our hike, we could hear the calls of many small birds including this sooty thrush.

We stopped at a viewing perch across from a large avocado tree. Queztels are more apt to be found feeding off the fruit in these trees. A solo birdwatcher was camped there with his binoculars and gear patiently looking for the bird. We waited for about half an hour before we finally decided that one was not coming. We started back along the trail with Jorge in the lead, and me pulling up the rear. Not but five minutes later, I saw a blue streak hopping around in the canopy above Jorge. Indeed it was the previously elusive Quetzel. It only stuck around for 2-3 minutes before flying off. But we got a good enough view of it to realize that it was indeed resplendent.

We continued onto the path leading up to the “continental divide.” This is a ridge that stretches from Canada down to Argentina. Theoretically, this geographical location indicates whether a falling raindrop will end up either in the Caribbean Sea or in the Pacific Ocean. The walk up there was steep for a few minutes before we reached the highest point in the national park. At that elevation, the wind is strong enough that it will topple trees that grow too tall. Thus, this area is known as a “dwarf forest” as none of the trees are much taller than 10-15 feet high. The winds blowing down from Canada were quite chilly and strong on the Caribbean side. But on the Pacific end, there was nary a zephyr and it was quite hot.

The Kids were getting quite tired after walking for three hours. We took the path back to the park entrance. Along the way, we passed several other groups, none of which had been fortunate enough to see a quetzal. When we arrived back at the viewing perch across from the avocado tree, the solitary birdwatcher was still there, but this time staring at the tree with his binoculars. Even with our binoculars, we had a hard time finding this second quetzel as the entire tree was like a shadow against the backdrop of the sun.

We exited the park and made our way up to the hummingbird gallery. It is simply just a bunch of hummingbird feeders hanging up in the trees beside a souvenir shop. However, the place was like a beehive. Thirty to forty little colorful shapes darted around us. Apparently there are over 50 different hummingbird species in Costa Rica—about 30 of which can be found in the Monteverde cloud forest. The birds were so used to humans that we could just put our hands on the feeders and the birds would land on them to feed.

The hummingbird garden was a fun ending after a long hike.

This large violet sabrewing acted like
an alpha male around the feeders.

Even smaller than some of the hummingbirds, a bananaquit gets in on some of the nectar action.

We said our goodbyes to Jorge as he was sticking around the park to lead another group on a hiking tour. He was truly an enthusiastic and amazing guide. He pointed out one last thing to us in the parking lot—a group of white faced capuchin monkeys swinging up the trees above our SUV. Instead of visiting the many nature parks in the Monteverde region, maybe we should just hang out in their parking lots.

Jorge gave us one last tip on our way out. He highly recommended stopping off at the Monteverde Cheese Factory on the way down and getting some milkshakes. In the 1940’s a group of Quakers from Alabama had left the United States and settled in the Monteverde region. Since they were pacifists, the abolition of Costa Rica’s military fit their religious philosophy much better than the U.S.’s compulsory military service. The region was perfect for raising cattle and making cheese. Now the area produces about a third of the cheese consumed by this nation.

We didn't have time or the interest in doing the cheese factory tour. We headed straight for their small cafe. Their menu was all in Spanish and the man behind the counter spoke no English. However, he was very patient and friendly with us. The guanabana, the combination (lime, pineapple, an strawberry), and the napolitano were all amazingly good. However, the best by far was the fig milkshake. I've never been a fan of figs back home, but here in Costa Rica, they use it so well.

Aside from awesome milkshakes and some cheese, there wasn't really anything else being sold.

A viewing window allows visitors to watch the cheese-making process. How amazingly boring.

After finishing our milkshakes, we stopped by Stella's Bakery and purchased some pastries for lunch.

We relaxed by the pool at the Monteverde lodge while enjoying our lunch.

At mid-afternoon, a van from the El Trapiche plantation picked us up for an afternoon tour. They must do pretty good business as there were four different groups of around 15 people each going on the tour. Our guide was Diego, whose great grandfather started the coffee plantation. It’s a family-run business as his parents, siblings, cousins, etc. either work as guides or grow and process the coffee.

Diego took us on a very in depth and informative tour detailing the growing, collecting, processing, and roasting of coffee beans. He did the same for the sugar cane and chocolate plants that they also grow on their plantation. At every step, we were invited to try the coffee and chocolate.

The red cherries on this coffee tree are ripe for the pickin'.

Coffee trees only bear fruit for about 5 years.
New shoots have to be grafted on afterwards.

Each coffee fruit usually contains two beans. About 5% of the time, a peaberry results
where there is only one bean. These are considered to produce higher grades of coffee.

The Boy carries a coffee basket used
by laborers on these plantations.

The Girl demonstrates the traditional method of separating the coffee beans from their outer shells.

Coffee beans must be dried either by the sun for a few weeks or quicker by industrial processes.

A small roaster produces the final coffee
product that we usually find in markets.

After a thorough education about the coffee-producing process, we moved onto the world of chocolate.

The thick cacao pod must be opened to obtain the bitter seeds.

This display shows the cacao seeds in different stages of drying.

After they are fully dried, the beans are then
roasted producing the dark brown color.

After removing the shells, the cacao is put through a grinder.

This produces a still-bitter dark chocolate

Sugar is then added to the dark chocolate...

...to make it more palatable to conventional tastes.

It’s hard to imagine that people were able to figure out that these plants were worth eating. It takes lots of steps to produce the product that we get from stores. Only in the last few stages do the coffee or cacao beans even slightly resemble something edible. Sugar, on the other hand is different.

Sugarcane originates from India. It
arrived in the New World after Columbus.

The Kids share a piece of freshly cut sugarcane.

We hitched a ride on a carreta which Ticos used to transport crops like sugarcane from the fields.

This plantation is named after a trapiche (sugar cane mill).

This traditional one was hand-fed and powered by oxen.

This more modern mill is water-powered and much more efficient.

The sweet liquid is collected in buckets
and transferred to large cooking pots.

The sugar water is then boiled down...

...and placed in molds to produce these bricks.

Alternatively, the hot sugar water can be stirred...

...to produce a crumbly, caramel-like candy.

At the end of the tour, there was tasting room where we were invited to try the coffee either made with a traditional chorreador or with a modern espresso machine.