Sunday we finally made it to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve! We got up early, packed a lunch and hiked into Santa Elena to catch the 7:30 bus to Monteverde. As we drove up into the clouds, the rain started. It rained for the majority of the hike, but it was still one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on.
Once we were deep into the trees the leaves, epiphytes, vines and other greenery deflected most of the rain and we felt that we were in more of a heavy drizzle instead of a downpour. The greenery of the forest envelops everything. Everywhere, it is green. The tree trunks and even the ground are carpeted in soft, green moss. Moss drapes from the upper branches of the trees, already made green from their leaves and the abundant epiphytes living in them. Vines climb the trees, adding their own shade of green and strangler figs, often covered in moss themselves plunge from the tops of the trees, their tendrils like thick green ropes. Against this green back drop were stunning flowers, bright pops of orange, pink and red.
We hiked along the continental divide, again experiencing the winds we felt on the gondola at Sky Trek, although not quite as strong as they had to navigate through the forest to reach us. The trees swayed with a surprising range of motion. There were several places to stop and look out over the continental divide, but each view point was obscured by the clouds. Our hike took us along a long loop on the outside of the reserve, beautiful and unlike anything we had ever seen before, our path alternated between wooden boardwalks, dirt paths and stepping stones. We were quite certain that we were in some sort of Indiana Jones movie (but not Raiders of the Lost Arc- no way I want to end up in that snake pit!) and we kept expecting to run into Indy or possibly King Kong around every corner. We hiked along a river and eventually came to a waterfall.
We ended our first hike, ate lunch and went on a second hike. This one took us up and up and up and then across one of the suspension bridges that seem to be everywhere here, this one was not as fancy as the ones we had crossed at Sky Trek, it shook a lot more and the floor, besides being mesh and very see-through, gave a little under our feet. But it offered up close looks at the epiphytes and sweeping views of the forest.
We finished our second hike and had about an hour before our bus back to Santa Elena came at 2, so we decided to head over to the hummingbird gallery that our host, Beth, had recommended. In Costa Rica they discourage hummingbird feeders and instead suggest planting flowering bushes to attract the hummingbirds. However, the humming bird gallery uses feeders. They do this in the name of research- tracking species, habits etc. It had become a feeding frenzy; hundreds of hummingbirds were swarming around the feeders. As we walked in to the garden, hummingbirds whipped past our heads only millimeters away, buzzed in our ears and flew up to us, hovered for a second and then would flit away. It was one of the most beautiful/terrifying things I have ever seen. We tried to get pictures, but they are just too fast, and a feeder that one seconds before had been full would be completely empty by the time we snapped the picture.
We had to catch the 2pm bus in order to be back in Santa Elena by 4pm. It is only about a half hour bus ride, but the next bus left the reserve at 4pm and we did not want to miss a second of the US vs. Portugal game. We got back to Santa Elena, grabbed second lunch and then went to Bar Amigo, of course. We met and sat with Matt and Torrey, a super fun couple originally from North Carolina but living and teaching in Mexico City. They were on the second year of a three year commitment down there and were on summer vacation in Nicaragua and Costa Rica for a few days. They love living in Mexico City and entertained us with numerous stories. Avid soccer fans, they had been to watch the US National Team play Mexico and shared the dangers that go along with purchasing tickets in Mexico and sitting in the Mexico section- a dangerous place to be cheering for the US.
The game started poorly, with Portugal scoring first, but the second half was much better and the US went up 2-1. We all thought that the US had the game, especially as the second half came to a close. Finally, they made it to the end of regulation and started extra time, the US still up by 1. As the seconds ticked by we grew more and more sure that the US was going to be the first team out of the Group of Death. And then, the unthinkable happened, with less than thirty seconds left in extra time, Portugal scored, tying the game. If someone had told me at the beginning of the World Cup that the US would tie Portugal, I would have thought that would be a great outcome. It was losing a sure thing with less than 30 seconds in the match left that left me heartbroken. However, we pulled ourselves together and walked down to get some pizza with Matt and Torrey. We enjoyed getting to know them and swapping travel stories- they had traveled through Europe but had a lot of experience with Asia and had excellent advice on food and travel through Asia. The pizza was good, the wine was nice and the company was excellent!!
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