It was a rough night, as the sound of the wind whistling through the mountains became louder than any banshee scream heard by the scots. I have been through hurricanes and never felt winds like this! We were told we're lucky, and that last week they were 90 km! This was enough for us!
When we got our laundry last night and got back into the hotel, the pups decided to have fun with us. The furry white dog ran in front of our car and danced around, so I had to get out to distract her. Not the worst thing and she was very friendly and adorable. Her buddy warmed up too so I had a furry lovefest. Don't tell my critters!
Being in the cloud forest is something. Everything felt damp when we got up, and books left on the table were actually curled! May not have been worth drying everything as my fleece that I forgot to dry was as dry as the rest of my clothes! The weather was windy this morning but (I'm reluctant to say) NO RAIN! Hopefully I didn't jinx myself. We got up early for our tour of the Monteverde Cloud forest, and grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel. Joined by a family of monkeys! There were four and a baby and two came right over to the windows banging on them. I got lots of great pics..what a thrill! They are the white-faced capucian monkeys. The cat came over for food too (I guess I look like an easy target) and the dogs walked us over to our room. I felt badly that they were out last night, but figure they're used to it. To give you an idea of the temperature, I had a tshirt, two long sleeved shirts, a fleece and a raincoat, along with thermals and hiking pants. (thankfully later in the day, I've stripped off layers as it's getting nice enough that one long sleeved shirt will do just nicely).
We met our guide, Adrien, who was absolutely wonderful! Sandy, if you detour to come here, I would highly recommend him and have his info. I know I've talked a bit about the awful weather, but it's very unusual. A cold front moved into the Caribbean and it's messed with the weather here. It's usually more sunny here and much less windy. It's supposed to clear tomorrow. Having said that, it's gorgeous now.. breezy and warmer, and sunny for the most part.
The forest was just amazing. I'll probably add to this later, but want to get the highlights. We were not two minutes in when we spotted the elusive Quetzal. A bird nearly extinct, with a luminescent green body and bright red chest, with a very long (2 foot or so) tail. I got some pictures and it was really impressive. We saw a young sloth curled up between swaying branches sleeping, and older one hanging out, two howler monkeys and tons of birds. Hummingbirds, etc. We also saw a quantimundi (sp) the animal that we saw yesterday which was scared off before I could snap a picture. I got a great photo of him. We saw a puma footprint in the mud (though no puma!)
Adrien told us about life in Monteverde, where he's been his whole life. He is married and has a three year old. Tourism is the dominant job here, and he loves what he does. He said many new people have moved in bringing drug trade with him, which upsets him quite a bit.
Back to the cloud forest-- the Quakers from Alabama settled here in 1951 and started the area. They have a cheese factory which remains, and they started the preserve. The trees were swaying and creaking, so loudly in fact that we thought there were woodpeckers around! A bit unnerving when we saw trees down due to the winds last week, and witnessed their wrath. The continental divide runs through this park, so part of the park has very different weather and foliage from the other side. You can actually see a difference. We saw a bird that they call "R2D2" for obvious reasons, and saw an owl as well. One of the hummingbirds was really carrying on screaming about the owl being it the area, to warn others. I took a ton of pictures. The forest was green and lush and had some amazing flowers, and many varieties of orchids. It was truly worth seeing.
When we walked out we went to the hummingbird gallery where there were feeders everywhere that they fill three times a day to keep up with demand. We saw 8 different kinds of the 50 in Costa Rica and Adrien knew every type. There was one that was a vivid violet and beautiful!!!
We drove back to the hotel and ate at Donde Henry, a comida tipica (local cuisine) cafeteria style restaurant in the square, or actually, triangle, in the center of town. Very simple, inexpensive, good. (Rice and pinto beans, a quesidilla-like thing with meat and potatoes, stewed meat with salsa, fruit juice-- i tried the tamarindo and liked it, but then thought to ask and it was NOT purified water. So bottled for me!)
At 3 we have a tour of El Trapiche planned, a sugar cane plantation where they harvest coffee, bananas and pineapples. I'm really looking forward to it!!
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Diego picked us up for the tour. When we were leaving, we saw a man put the second white dog in the car (not sure if I mentioned him, he looked like the other white dog, Osa, and is named Oso. I thought they were related, but apparently not! Anyways, I asked where he was going and he said "home." Apparently every three days Oso comes to Arco Iris to visit! Then the owner bring him home, and three days later goes to get him! How funny!
El Trapiche was amazing! We took a two hour tour of this farm that is family owned for four generations. They had a tilapia pond, chicken pen and of course, a guide dog (who is "the boss" I was told.) We walked through the banana plantation, sugar cane, coffee plants, and learned about the growing and harvesting of each. It was so interesting! Also saw a pineapple growing, and some tobacco. We saw how the coffee beans are picked, dried and processed. There is a beetle that eats the coffee plants, and they found a creative way of keeping it away. We saw white cups hanging among the trees filled with guaro (a sugar cane liquor that is illegal to distill. There is a commercial grade version available that is 30% alcohol, but when you make it, it's 80% alcohol!) So our guide made it very, very clear that of COURSE they would not distill guaro, but if they did, they showed us the process. But of course they don't! Anyways, they said that the beetles are attracted to the scent and fall in, drunk! He said that's an issue with the workers as well, who are mostly from Nicaragua. It's very hard work, and seasonal, so many of the CR's don't want to do it.
Cutting the sugar cane is hard work, esp as this farm is hilly which makes cutting it by machine nearly impossible. Cutting it by hand can be dangerous as the leaves are actually sharp like razor blades! They began doing the tours 4 years ago to keep the farm in business, and it's easy to understand why.
Coffee picking was interesting too. Pickers quickly and selectively grab the red beans, and are paid by the basket (Caheula). A good picker can pick one caheula an hour, which pays them around $2 USD. If there are too many green beans, they get a 40-50% decrease in their pay. In CR only arabica or arabica blends are grown. This is a low wage, but liveable here. (side note- which amazes me as it's much more costly here than I expected, esp. relative to peru! )
We then took an ox drawn cart back to the farm and watched el trapiche, the machine used to process the sugar in work. Few use it any more as it's labor intensive, requiring oxen to move the large plates. We watched the machine suck in and press the cane and the sugar liquid come out. We got to taste it, and it's super sweet as you'd imagine! We got the cups of it right next to the guaro distiller (what a tease!!) We then watched them heat and stir the sugar, to make blocks of the thick brown sugar. Few places make it anymore and it's mostly consumed in CR and interestingly, in Holland, where it's used for chocolates.
I bought coffee for people (of course!) and a journal made of banana fibers that is painted by hand. Oh, and we saw naranjilla trees, an orange fruit that bitter like a lemon. Also called limon mandarina. We got to try the juice, fresh brewed coffee run through a cloth filter, and made some candy of the sugar. It was hard work and super sweet! We also got to try the blocks of sugar, which was tasting of molassas and you could feel the sugar crystals.
We got back to our hotel, played with the pooches a bit, then headed out to the frog pond. We say maybe 25 different kinds of frogs and toads, including dart frogs, glass frogs, a "blue jean " frog with a green body and dark blue legs, tree frogs and the famous red eyed tree frog that CR is known for.
We then headed out to dinner at Tramonti, a pizza place. Usually I want local food, but we weren't terribly hungry and a pizza sounded good. One of the best I've had outside of NYC! It was brick over and very well done. We headed back after that for an early night. The wind blew but not quite as badly as the night before, and I was finally able to get some sleep.
This morning we head out to Arenal, probably with a short excursion to the cheese factory run by the quakers. The day is beautiful, sunny, breezy and warmer than previously, so hopefully the storm is moving out!! Driving between areas takes time, and getting from here to Arenal will be around 5 hours as we have to drive around the lake (now I understand why the tranport option was jeep-boat- jeep!) I will try to write later. Oh, and the monkeys joined us again for breakfast and I got a few funny new pics!
Sam
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