Costa Rica Part 1 - Monteverde

PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
edited January 29, 2007 in Journeys
After returning from the roadtrip that coldclimb and I went on I had lots of money to spend so I bought a ticket to Costa Rica and went there with my friend Sarah. We spent 20 days there and did everything on a whim. We didn't have any idea where we were staying (even the night we landed) and didn't know where the trip would take us. We visited several places including Montezuma, Monteverde, La Fortuna, Cahuita, and San Jose. My camera began to malfunction and I was not able to replace it so half of my pictures came out blurry, fuzzy, or noisy but I think I was able to salvage some! So I hope I can lead everyone this fun trip!

We flew into Juan Santa Maria Airport in Alajuela and took a Taxi to downtown San Jose where we got our first room. It was $35 a night but was pretty late so we agreed. It was our most expensive room we would pay for in San Jose. Two beds, Private Bath, and a fan.
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A view from right outside our room. In the rather gritty city of San Jose we got a nice hotel with a small plot of trees and very colorful.
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Their national building in downtown. Its definatly one of the nicer areas.
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This is our second room we stayed in at Monteverde in Northern Costa Rica. We got to do lots of fun things here and this room was $14 per night. It was also a shed with a sliding door. you can see our high security measure lock that we used when we left.
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One thing we did while in Monteverde was take a Zipline tour. It was something I had always wanted to do and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The station you can see had the longest cable which was over 1000 feet.
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Before going on the Zipline we did a walk of the jungle using their hanging bridges and saw lots of cool things. Everything is so intensly green in the jungle!
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Sarah picked up a big dead leaf on the ground and we saw this guy hopping around. He was very well camoflouged on this leaf!
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No room is spared on the side of this tree. Everywhere there is space there is room for life.
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Walking across the sky bridges became even more fun when we could jump on them and they would sway.
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Being above the canopy offers some views of very large plants.
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Unfortunatly this isnt a good picture but I figured I would post it anyway. This is an endangered bird called a Quetzel and is sacred in Mayan culture. We were walking on a hanging bridge and got to be about 8 feet away from this guy. A treat to many birders.
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Most orchids seemed to not be out. I believe it was because it was the dry season but there were still some really beautiful flowers.
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Lots of hummingbirds around Costa Rica and these didn't mind my presence at all as I got to sit right near them. Some even flew and hovered next to me as they waited to return to the drinking pot.
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Then we finally got to go Ziplining! Unfortunatly I didn't get many pictures. But I did get some video for myself so its not to bad!
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We were able to see Volcano Arenal from one of the launch sites. More pictures of it later!
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Who's hungry for Banana's? These were outside our room in Monteverde.
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Why fight nature? This still very living tree surrounds this cafe and you eat under its limbs.
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Would it be wrong to visit a central american country and not try the coffee? I think so...
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Our last thing to do while in Monteverde was visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. It was everything it said it would be. Cloudy. It was rainy, cloudy, almost chilly, and absolutly wonderful. It is hard to be anything but excited in an area with so much life.
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Next stop - Montezuma.

Comments

  • diggy415diggy415 Registered Users Posts: 26 Big grins
    edited January 28, 2007
    Thank you for posting my memories, although things have change since i was back there as a child. I went to lincoln school which looks like a hotel now, i was about 4-5 and remember living off that beach and having iguana for meals. Those were the days i tell ya. thnks again.
    Kodak Z650
  • dlibrachdlibrach Registered Users Posts: 232 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2007
    Nice photos. Looks like you guys had a great time. My wife and I spent a good deal of time down there a few years back when she was doing her Masters research. Costa Rica is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. Your photos brought back many fond memories and I look forward to returning one day (but first were off to Nicaragua for her PhD research!).

    Cheers,
    Dave
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2007
    That looks amazing! I've never been in a real jungle before and it looks beautiful. Looking forward to seeing more!
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