Sunday, March 1, 2009

Monteverde,Costa Rica Days 5&6

Woke up early to catch my shuttle bus to Monteverde. This was, by far, the most interesting transportation and most uncomfortable.

Shuttle bus took us to a boat that transported us across Arenal lake so we could catch another shuttle bus. OMG, the road to Monteverde was wet, muddy and ROUGH. To make matters worse, I was sitting on a fold out seat and I was hurting. We were bouncing all over as the road has many holes. On the way, we saw some parts of the road that had just collapsed. Needless to say, it fucking freaked me out.

Stopped at a coffee plantation for a rest. Oh, did I mention that the total time to get to Monteverde is 6 hours?!?





The coffee bean is inside the red fruit. It's white until roasted.

Finally arrive at the hotel. One word....AWESOME!!!!







My room overlooked the gulf of the Pacific ocean. I'll post a picture later in this blog as on the day I arrived, there was hurricane force winds and rain. Awful combo but I made the best of it. The room more than made up for any wacky weather!!

Decided to take a taxi to town to eat dinner. Took the front desk recommendation and end up at Morphos.



I was the only customer for my entire meal. I was just about ready to pay my bill when a gentleman walked in. He struck up some conversation about the weather and than asked if I was dining alone. I told him I was about ready to leave and he asked if he could join me until I did.

I stayed through his whole meal!

Murray is a retired Psychiatrist who bought a one way ticket to Costa Rica so he would have no time constraints. He is 72 years old and looks like he is in his mid fifties. he has a partner at home but, from our conversations, not the best of a partnership. As we ended the night, he asked if we could have dinner the next night. I agreed. The picture is actually from the next night, but I'll post now.



Nice man. I felt he wanted me to stay the night with him but that wasn't going to happen!

Day 6:

Woke up early (again) to hike the cloud forrest. Such a beautiful forrest.









We had a rare experience to see the Quesal bird. this bird is endangered, only 2000 left. Originally from Guatemala, they migrated to Costa Rica because Guatemala no longer has any wild avocado trees for them to eat.



This picture does not do this bird justice. It's a big bird with a very long tail. The colors are so vivid, green and red!

After the hike, I grab a cup of coffee in a cafe. They have hummingbird feeders and I caught some great pics.



Went back to the hotel and decided to walk back down towards the forrest to alittle coffee shop I saw on the way back to the hotel.







Spent 2 hours here, drinking coffee, eating and reading. I loved it!

Walked back to the hotel with theses amazing views to keep me smiling.





Ended the night having dinner with Murray.

Leaving tomorrow for my final destination: The Beach! Warm weather at last!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

The pictures all look like they could be desktop wallpaper. Beautiful!!!

Your dinner guest....was he hinting at staying in touch???

Debz said...

I have never seen coffee beans still on the plant before. And who knew they were white?! Not me!

As usual, great pictures sweetie!

Anonymous said...

So very cool!!! You make me want to go to CR so very badly!!!!

travel girl said...

@Chocolate covered daydreams: we did exchange e mails but I haven't e mailed him. He definitely was hinting at spending a night with me.

Was. Not. Going. To. Happen!

"J" said...

It was nice that you met up with someone to talk with and have dinner with!!!! =)

Your hikes seem very nice - you got some really good pics!!!!!

Girl, your ride in that bus for 6 freaking hours sounds BAD!!!! That sucks - I know your bootie was in pain on the fold out seat!!!! You poor thing!!! =(

Wendy said...

It’s great whenever someone asks me about Costa Rica, best vacation hotels, the real estate investment outlook, or the wellness aspects. I enjoy sharing my experiences in making choices when visiting Costa Rica’s southern Pacific Coast. For more information visit here
real state in costa rica