Skip to main content

Monteverde

Last weekend we threw together a trip with mostly people we did not know. It turned out to be absolutely wonderful! There were 6 of us in total, all from the states. 2 from Ohio, 1 from New York, 1 from North Dakota, and Jake & I. 

 
4 Hour drive up the mountains to Monteverde
We went to Monteverde, which National Geographic calls, "the jewel in the crown of cloud forest reserves." Newsweek declared the Monteverde the world's #14 place to remember before it disappears."

In the Monteverde Cloud Forest
Suspension Bridge in the park
The cloud forest has a pretty interesting background story. Quakers from the states moved to the area in 1951 to avoid the draft for the Korean War. In 1948, Costa Rica had abolished their military, so the Americans were drawn to it. They moved their to farm but quickly realized how unique the ecosystems were in this cloud forest. They teemed up with the Costa Rican government to guarantee its conservation.

New friend- Maggie!
We zip lined over the forest, which was beautiful, and Jake bungee jumped nearby. Maggie and I hiked through the forest, but didn't see any of the noteworthy creatures. 

Looking down over the forest
Green









Waterfall on our hike

This is the design they paint on ox cart wheels
  




































We also did a night coffee tour and jungle walk. It was super fun, our guides were great, we saw 3 sloths, and the stars and moon were incredible!

Don Juan night coffee tour
Sunday morning we made the bus trek back to San Jose and decided we hadn't had enough of each other yet. We went to lunch at the cafe in the National Theater, and then decided there were too many more hours in the day to part ways. Three of the girls had never been to Tres Rios before, so we invited everyone to our house, and played games and ate loads of junk food. It was definitely one of our best weekends in Costa Rica, and such an inspiring reminder of why we travel: meeting new people + exploring new places= fabulous adventures. So grateful to have met these girls, to live in Costa Rica, and for this beautiful life.

The group! Maddie, Jake, Me, Maggie, Carly, & Mo


Comments

  1. LaceySeptember 4, 2014 at 2:24 AM

    Wow, that suspension bridge is DREAMY!!! That and green gets me. ahhhh!! Also, what's that beautiful bright art piece?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thunder

Thailand tops the charts in my book when it comes to storms. I am not sure if I've lived in a place with more spectacular storms than here. All the curtains are drawn in my bedroom yet slices of lightening are still breaking through. The thunder just passed directly over me. I check the monitor for fear of it waking Elsie up. Seems like the loud shaking would startle a baby! Not yet, though. I am sure as she gets older, she'll become more aware, and thus more afraid.  Railay Beach, Thailand What is it about pouring rain that is so comforting? I absolutely love it. I am not one to complain about a good rain, although this past weekend I may have once or twice. We took our first Thailand vacation, which happened to be Elsie's first trip to the beach. It rained and rained and continued to rain. For the entire Saturday, it never stopped. Ever. There's only so much you can do in a hotel room, with a baby, for an entire day. So of course we strapped her on Jake's ba...
Post a Comment
Read more

Correcaminos!

I was pretty excited to find out, on my first morning here, that Lindsey (our host sister) is part of a running team, and she immediately told me where to find a track close by. Before flying here, I really had no idea what to expect of the work-out situation in Costa Rica. I have since discovered that more people exercise outside in this country than anywhere else I have lived! Jake and I have been amazed by the number of cyclists and runners that line the highways, eerily close to the traffic.  Starting line Lindsey told me that she had a race coming up in a few weeks, on that first morning. I was interested but quickly realized that it was on the last day of our 2 week vacation. I did not intend to be in good shape during vacation, so I sadly dismissed the idea. Running a race in another country is interesting to me; a unique way to experience the culture. My first (real) race, I ran in Turkey with Lacey. It was an extremely motivating experience, and I want to continua...
2 comments
Read more

Bali

Who doesn't want to go to Bali? It just sounds idyllic! Jake and I decided to go to Bali for our October vacation. About a month beforehand, evacuations were ordered from the government because Mt. Agung is supposed to erupt at any moment. It was deemed safe as long as you stay outside of this 12 kilometer radius. Still, when we arrived in Ubud, we were quite nervous to see the smoke billowing from the top of Agung, from our pool. It certainly didn't look far enough away to be safe during an eruption. Proximity coupled with the roads in Bali had me a bit worried. I heard they were narrow, terrible roads, but I had to see them to believe it. Incredibly narrow and filled with moving cars, parked cars, motorcycles, carts, animals, pedestrians. It was clear we were not going to get anywhere quickly. Beautiful sunset in the rice fields Okay, okay....all that build up for nothing. It didn't erupt! Yet...but it totally will soon. We were definitely nervous, and probably...
Post a Comment
Read more