After a great visit with Sam we decided it was time to do some exploring on our own before we leave the northern area of Costa Rica. The marina helped arrange a rental car and on the morning of April 25th it was waiting for us in the parking lot. The three hour drive flew by and we enjoyed seeing new areas other then the marina. We arrived right around lunch time and for once the air was cool, it was overcast and a little rainy. We had reached the mountains and finally our kinda of weather. Monte Verde is 4600 feet above sea level and we were loving it. Thanks to Happy Cow I found us a nice restaurant for lunch. Stella's had vegan options and meat items as well. We sat outdoors in the their garden area and soaked in the wonderful 65 degree temperatures. From Stella we headed over to the butterfly garden where we were assigned a wonderful guide who first explained to us about all kinds of insects and native bugs in the area before guiding us around the various butterfly gardens and identifying each type. It felt magical like a little kids fairy tale where you live in a secret butterfly world. After this excellent walk and tour we went just up the street a little way to the orchid garden. Jeff and I know nothing about orchids excepts the ones they sell at Trader Joe's and our lack of knowledge showed among the other people in our tour who came with their own magnifying glasses and major cameras and knew the names of the various types of orchids before the guide had a chance to say them. We walked around the garden as the guide labeled each kind of orchid then waited as we all inspected them with a magnifying glass. Tired and toured out for the day we made our way to the Ficus Hotel which would be our base for the next couple of days. It was gorgeous. Set slightly above Monte Verde it has beautiful gardens and a view of the mountains and surrounding area and we were very happy. Later that evening we walked into town and had dinner at Mar y Tierra.
Lunch at Stella's
Hight in the Mountains of Monte Verde
Guide Explaining Various Insects to us
Stickbug
Butterfly Garden
Another Butterfly Garden
Entering Orchid Garden
Orchid Garden Tour Group & Guide
Sunset at Hotel Ficus
Walking to Dinner In the Rain
Day 2 at Monte Verde was the day I was most looking forward to. We were going to visit the Cloud Forest and take a tour with Roy. I had no idea what a cloud forest was and to hear it you picture just walking among the clouds in a dream like forest where unicorns and fairies live right? Well not actually. Turns out a cloud forest is a real thing and it describes a moist evergreen forest thats tropical and found in the mountains. I like my idea better. At 6:45a.m we drove to the forest to meet with our guide Roy for our birding tour. We were the only two on his tour and he was magnificent. He found so many different types of birds and knew where and how to spot them. It was amazing. We enjoyed looking through his professional scope and taking some incredible photos as well. By 10a.m the tour was over and we were having coffee at the cafe in the forest. At some point we made our way back to town and had lunch at Tico y Rico. It was good but not that memorable. There was one final activity I wanted to do that day and that was walking/hiking through the Children's Ethereal Forest to do some more birding. This time we didn't have a guide and it was mid-day (not the best time to see birds) but the forest was nice and we were able to spot and hear many more birds. It was a great birding day. And just when I thought the day couldn't get any better we discovered the San Lucas Treehouse for dinner. Tucked away high up in the mountains this restaurant is voted top 20 in the world (yes I said world) for most romantic restaurants and number one over all in Costa Rica. Their courtesy van picked us up and drove us to the restaurant from our hotel and we were welcomed and shown to our table which was in a glass inclosed boxed for just the two of us. A suitcase was presented on the table with our menus which were guidebooks taking us through our nine course dining experience which was personally customised for us - mine vegan and Jeff's pescatarian. Each course featured a different region in Costa Rica and highlighted foods and traditional recipes from that area. We were mesmerised. Course after course paired perfectly with the right alcohol and/or wine it felt like a dream. We were so full by the time it was all over and as we left we were given a gift bag with locally grown coffee, a picture of the two of us and a personalized thank you note for coming in. What a special place.
Starting Cloud Forest Tour
With Roy
In the Cloud Forest
Roy
Walking to Our Table San Lucas Treehouse
San Lucas Treehouse
Our View
Waitress with Suitcase First Course
San Lucas Treehouse
Beautiful Food Presentation
Our Glass Room
Drink Made in an Ice Cube
Sadly the next day we left Monte Verde it's cool temperatures and gorgeous scenery and drove three hours to La Fortuna. From the second we opened the car door we knew we weren't in the mountain anymore. The temperature and humidity were unbearable. Before we got to our hotel we stopped for lunch at a place called Organica Fortuna which came highly recommended for vegan options. We sat for what felt like forever sweating all over ourselves and noticing that the entire restaurant was filled with gringos. By the time the food actually came and I was ready to pass out I didn't even feel like eating. It didn't help that neither of us liked our meals. Oh well. After lunch we went to our tour at the sloth territory. Despite the heat and humidity we were both excited for our first sloth viewing and man these guys didn't disappoint. We went with a guide and six other people. We walked around their property as the guide showed us in the scope both sloths and howler monkeys. The sloths true to their name were just hanging there and not moving which gave us ample time to gaze and gawk. The tour took a couple hours and they gave us cool watermelon and pineapple afterwards to help cool us down. The air conditioned car ride to the hotel was heaven. Our hotel was an amazing gem we had no idea we were getting. Arenal Manoa has it's own hot springs, individual condos for rooms, a gorgeous pool and fine dining restaurant along with stunning gardens. Wow! We enjoyed dinner that night at the hotel restaurant Saca which had a separate fully vegan menu for me. Amazing.
Lake Arenal En Route to La Fortuna
La Fortuna
Sloth
Sloth Tour
Howler Monkey
Sloth With Baby
With Our Guide
Hotel Room Patio
Towel Animal & Welcome Chocolates at Hotel
Dinner at Hotel Restaurant- Saca
The following day we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel and then made our way to the La Fortuna Waterfall. We followed a nice path down hundreds of steps that lead us to the breathtaking waterfall. There we many viewing platforms and some people even swam in the water near the waterfall. We chose not to but took our time enjoying the views before hiking back up. From there we went back to the hotel and went in the natural hot springs that they made into a nice pool area. The water was very warm and we didn't last very long before relocating to the main pool which was cool and refreshing and where we would spend the entire afternoon. Since dinner was so great the night before we decided why risk it and leave so we returned once again to Saca and had a very nice dinner before retiring for the night.
Our Room with Hammock
Breakfast at the Hotel
Ready to Hike to Waterfall
Steps to Waterfall
Outside the Waterfall
Pond at the Hotel
Volcano View From Hotel
Lunch at the Pool
New Towel Animal
Enjoying the View From Hotel Room in the AC
Unfortunately our time for touring had come to an end and on April 29th we drove back to Marina Papagayo after some provisioning and a final trip to the Italian store. What a wonderful road trip.
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