For those of you who thought we were going to have a nice relaxing vacation filled which including sun basking and resting on our laurels… not quite.
The latter part of the trip may consist of this but certainly not our time in Monte Verde.
To quote EJ us in this area are like pigs in the proverbial feces.
We had a great time today and the excitement started early.
We got up at 6:15 am (yes earlier then I typically get up to work), got dressed and headed down for some coffee and a buffet breakfast. EJ was very excited about the fresh fruit and took many pictures of them. I on the other hand was very excited about the coffee. Sidenote: I am addicted to Costa Rican coffee and nothing will be the same. Its like a meal in a cup, deliciouso. Anyway, after a quick breakfast we met with our tour guide Enar (Elsa has been integral in remembering all the names… as I’m sure you all know I am AWFUL with name) for a hiking tour of the Eternal childrens’ rainforest.
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Not a monkey but a turkey!
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Brief history lesson for you all.
The rainforest is important for a ton of reasons.
We lose lots of it everyday to deforestation.
Many children around the world wanted to help with this problem and donated money.
That money was used to purchase a large amount (I think 54,000 acres, but I am too tired right now to confirm that) of rainforest as a preserve.
Thus, we benefit from their kindness and generosity.
EJ and I got were ready to get our rainforest nature walking on and with hiking boots on and cameras in hand we set off.
The children’s forest did not disappoint.
We saw a large black turkey like bird (which we both thought was a monkey at first), several cousins of the Olingo and Kinkajou named Coutis.
These little guys were awfully cute.
We learned that the females and juveniles will run in pack and while they are not fearful of people they can sometimes be aggressive.
Think of New Jersey deer with attitudes.
Nonetheless, we got some good pictures and Elsa got some really good video clips.
(Note: many of the faster animals and birds were better caught on video.
Once I figure out how to get the on the computer and if I can upload them I will.
We also saw another blue crowned motmot (man these guys are pretty!), and some large fancy butterflies.
Elsa was not thrilled when we came upon two long lines of Army ants….though.
These guys are crazy!
Apparently, they do not have a nest or hive but rather form a living ant ball to carry the queen, larvae, etc up to 1,800 meters a day.
They are like the insect garbage collectors of the rainforest floor, killing cockroaches, crickets and the like as if it was going out of style.
There were tons of worker ants, but also soldier ants with huge pincers that will bite and not let go.
The guide grabbed one and Elsa almost passed out…. alas I don’t think that part got on to the videotape.
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| Why did the couti cross the road? |
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| Natural playground of our dreams |
While the animals were cool, they were not the only things we saw on our morning tour. My favorite was the toilet paper plant. This is a true 5 star service of nature. The leaves feel like HIGH quality toilet paper, the fruit is such and efficient water storage vessel that when squeezed it can give a thirsty hiker a drink, and the juice can be used to treat kidney stones… pretty rockin. We also saw a ton of ficus trees. I am in love with these things. So they have this super tasty fruit that all the monkeys and birds love. They carry the fruit up high in the trees and defecate out the seeds. The seeds grown in the host tree and expand. Eventually the ficus will strangle and kill the host tree, using its shell as a support while it matures. As the host tree rots away, it becomes a haven for animals, fungi, and insects. Also, apparently they make really good forts or jungle gyms (as long as you avoid the porcupines and venomous snakes J ). These things have a very Swiss family Robinson look…. And we have a pretty good video of Elsa crawling in one (I alas was too big to fit L).
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| Land of the lost? |
While this tour was great, we still felt the need to do more hiking. After all, this was the reason why we picked Costa Rica. Otherwise we could have just basked on the beach in Miami right? So we caught a taxi to the Monte Verde reserve rain and cloud forest. We stopped by the hummingbird reserve and took another quick coffee break. Then it was off another rainforest hike. We decided that we would rather free hike this time and did not hire a guide. While we may not have seen as much wildlife, we still had a lot of fun exploring the suspension bridges, spotting waterfalls and climbing through ficus trees. We did sneakily hang out with a tour group as their guide spotted the legendary Quetzal though and we have a good video of it (too fast for my camera).
Once we got off the trail, a ranger told us that the bus was leaving in 6 minutes.
I said “Great we won’t have to pay for a taxi.”
To which he said no, not great its leaving in 6 minutes.
Luckily, once Ej started speaking with the man in Spanish the mystery was unraveled.
The bus HAD left six minutes ago and another would not be around for two hours.
Oh well… so we could get a taxi, but that did not make much sense as we wanted to hit tourist spots along the way, and it was a flat rate depending on how far away we were from town.
So… we were back to walking.
Let me tell you, we could not have stumbled onto a better choice.
Along the walk, we found another local fauna specimen --- a toucanette (again video no pictures yet sorry).
Also, we found a very curios resort… the Trapp family lodge.
To understand the significance of this, you would need to know that my family has been spending time in December at the Vermont Von Trapp Family lodge for decades.
It was so cool to see the similar Austrian design in Costa Rica.
We also stumbled upon a sloth sanctuary, bat museum and tour, and frog collection and education center.
The sloths were right up close without glass partitions.
There were humming-bats and baby bats (born at 30% size of mom – imagine a 35-50# baby ladies!
Frogs were awesome as well.
All in all, we got to learn a ton about nature, see lots of local fauna and hike.
What could be better?
We think that we walked approximately 8 miles up and down the mountain today, so yeah we are a little foot sore but satisfied.
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| Its a long.... way .... down! |
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| Prehistoric nature with man made steps. |
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| How could you not love that face? |
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| We found our own version of Dirt Dawg here! (They stopped me when I tried to smuggle him out under my shirt) |
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| Blue Jean frog ... not actual size! |
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The costa rica mascot, red eyed tree frog
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So what did we do after a full day of hiking?? We got pizza and local beer of course. Now before you judge us too harshly, keep in mind that it was fresh made thin crust with basil mixed into the dough, real FRESH pineapple (I got Hawaiian), fresh local cheese and gosh darn it we really wanted pizza. No dancing tonight alas, our poor feet need a little break!
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| NUMMY! |
Next time I talk to you will be after our adventure canopy tour.
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| Night again from due south! |
Z
For those of you who thought we were going to have a nice relaxing vacation filled which including sun basking and resting on our laurels… not quite. The latter part of the trip may consist of this but certainly not our time in Monte Verde. To quote EJ us in this area are like pigs in the proverbial feces. We had a great time today and the excitement started early.
Brief history lesson for you all. The rainforest is important for a ton of reasons. We lose lots of it everyday to deforestation. Many children around the world wanted to help with this problem and donated money. That money was used to purchase a large amount (I think 54,000 acres, but I am too tired right now to confirm that) of rainforest as a preserve. Thus, we benefit from their kindness and generosity. EJ and I got were ready to get our rainforest nature walking on and with hiking boots on and cameras in hand we set off. The children’s forest did not disappoint. We saw a large black turkey like bird (which we both thought was a monkey at first), several cousins of the Olingo and Kinkajou named Coutis. These little guys were awfully cute. We learned that the females and juveniles will run in pack and while they are not fearful of people they can sometimes be aggressive. Think of New Jersey deer with attitudes. Nonetheless, we got some good pictures and Elsa got some really good video clips. (Note: many of the faster animals and birds were better caught on video. Once I figure out how to get the on the computer and if I can upload them I will. We also saw another blue crowned motmot (man these guys are pretty!), and some large fancy butterflies. Elsa was not thrilled when we came upon two long lines of Army ants….though. These guys are crazy! Apparently, they do not have a nest or hive but rather form a living ant ball to carry the queen, larvae, etc up to 1,800 meters a day. They are like the insect garbage collectors of the rainforest floor, killing cockroaches, crickets and the like as if it was going out of style. There were tons of worker ants, but also soldier ants with huge pincers that will bite and not let go. The guide grabbed one and Elsa almost passed out…. alas I don’t think that part got on to the videotape. 
Once we got off the trail, a ranger told us that the bus was leaving in 6 minutes. I said “Great we won’t have to pay for a taxi.” To which he said no, not great its leaving in 6 minutes. Luckily, once Ej started speaking with the man in Spanish the mystery was unraveled. The bus HAD left six minutes ago and another would not be around for two hours. Oh well… so we could get a taxi, but that did not make much sense as we wanted to hit tourist spots along the way, and it was a flat rate depending on how far away we were from town. So… we were back to walking. Let me tell you, we could not have stumbled onto a better choice. Along the walk, we found another local fauna specimen --- a toucanette (again video no pictures yet sorry). Also, we found a very curios resort… the Trapp family lodge. To understand the significance of this, you would need to know that my family has been spending time in December at the Vermont Von Trapp Family lodge for decades. It was so cool to see the similar Austrian design in Costa Rica. We also stumbled upon a sloth sanctuary, bat museum and tour, and frog collection and education center. The sloths were right up close without glass partitions. There were humming-bats and baby bats (born at 30% size of mom – imagine a 35-50# baby ladies! Frogs were awesome as well. All in all, we got to learn a ton about nature, see lots of local fauna and hike. What could be better? We think that we walked approximately 8 miles up and down the mountain today, so yeah we are a little foot sore but satisfied. 
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