Monteverde and the Cloud Forest

On Thursday morning, we had a good breakfast at Cafe Europa, and then headed for Monteverde, the cloud forest. The drive started on major roads, including highway 1, the Panamerican highway.  I could not resist taking a photo of the "Pura Vida" Taco Bell.

When we turned off the major road, the road into the mountains became narrower and twistier, and finally turned to gravel.　

We stopped at El Angel restaurant and lodge to admire the view, and have something to drink. We enjoyed the Capuchin monkeys, which were almost pets. The view was spectacular. The ecotourism businesses became very frequent as we approached Santa Elena. We drove into a very busy town, bought some food, and then had Google help us find our farm, the Finca Terra Viva. This is a dairy farm with more than 100 cows. It also offers cabins, and a farm stay program. We were welcomed by Gaudy, who gave us directions to the river cabin. The directions had us turning off the gravel road into a pasture. We were glad that we had an SUV with 4WD.

We went to watch the milking of the cows, and were lucky enough to meet Federico, the owner.

Federico is an expert on reptiles in Costa Rica; he wrote the book. He explained the dairy cooperative to us, which includes more than 1000 farms. Their brand is Dos Pinos, and they have more than 600 stock keeping units in products in stores. Sandi and Pam got to bottle feed the new calves.

　

We had the river cabin, which is away from the other farm buildings. In order to get there, we drove back to the road, went a short distance, and entered another gate. At some point, we turned off the gravel and took a hard left, driving across the pasture. Luckily we had 4WD and good clearance.

 The cabin has one bathroom, two bedrooms, and a front common area with lots of windows, and a view of the pastures.  It is not called a cloud forest for nothing, as you can see in the photo.
Curiously, the kitchen and bathroom sinks do not have hot water; the only hot water is the shower, powered by solar. The pipes sometimes make a lot of noise. We are told that the water here is pure spring water, with lots of minerals. It was very drinkable, cold and clear

　

On Friday morning, we watched the mist come in, and had breakfast at the lodge. Gaudy discussed the alternatives in terms of activities and restaurants. We decided to head for the Casem women's cooperative, where we bought an embroidered wall hanging and several souvenir gifts. We enjoyed coffee at Monteverde cafe, where the young lady explained how to make an authentic cup of Costa Rican cofee, using the drip method.

　

Resplendant Quetzal in flight

We next went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, owned by a foundation. We learned that there is almost no public land in the Monteverde area. We paid around $40 each for admission and a guide. We watched hummingbirds while we waited for our guide, John, 23 years old. He spotted for us a pair of resplendent quetzals, a yellowish flycatcher, and a sloth. For a two hour tour, we saw surprisingly few birds. He told us a lot about the plants.

We walked out on the suspension bridge, and got a view of the canopy from above. We enjoyed this tour very much; it helped that the weather was sunny. We had an early dinner at Stella's, and left with some baked goods.

　

On Saturday morning at breakfast we chatted with Federico, who educated us on why Costa Rica has a different sense of the environment. In 1978 the country created a system of national parks. Scientists and students came to Costa Rica to study because Costa Rica was stable politically. The cloud forest is one of the most ecologically diverse places on earth. Many of the species are epihphytes, such as orchids, which live on other plants, but are not parasites. A single tree could have as many as 70 species of epiphytes living on it!

　

We drove to Santa Elena, and Rafa and his van took us to the coffee tour of El Cafetal in San Luis. The farm is organic; Luis does his own roasting. The coffee tour included demonstrations of how the coffee was produced and roasted in the old days, as well showing the current machinery. The beans are air dried in a greenhouse. Gaby explained to us the various varieties of coffee plants. Since this is an organic producer, fungus is a big issue; plants that become covered in fungus are cut back to regrow. They plant fruit trees for the shade that the coffee plants need; one of the ladies on the tour was hit by a falling grapefruit. At the end of a tour we tasted the coffee, and bought some.

　

We had lunch at Stellas, saw a Leeson's motmot, and watched the monkey steal the banannas. Then we parked in Santa Elena, visited the ATM, and walked around the triangular center of town. Like most tourist towns, every other storefront is booking tours. We saw many hostals, and many European young people.

　

We came back to our cabin in Finca Terra Viva, and Sandi and I walked over to the milking barn. Federico explained to us in detail the functioning of the milking machinery, including how it is cleaned automatically. We also discussed in additional detail the functioning of the agricultural cooperative. Federico was on the board of the coop, and feels some ownership of the coop. The coop exports about 1/3 of their products to Nicaragua, Panama, and other countries. The coop imports corn from the US or Argentina, grinds it, adds some minerals, and sells it to the farmers. Sandi was particularly interested, since she has been working with a farm coop in Fort Collins.

　

On Sunday we ate breakfast at Terra Viva, and chatted a little with the French people there. We all went to mass in Santa Elena, and admired their nativity scene. We had lunch at Stellas, and then drove to the Santa Elena Reserve. We found it to be quite different from Monteverde; it seemed wetter, with more ferns and more moss. What looked like a short hike turned out to be a project, due to elevation gain, hundreds of steps, and a muddy bypass around a construction project.

Dave kissing the ground after reaching the paved trail.

 We did enjoy our view of Arenal volcano; the top was covered in clouds. We headed for Morpho's Restaurant, and we all ate "casados", a Costa Rican dish composed largely of rice and beans. We also admired the sunset, the view of the Bay of Nicoya, and the Nicoya penninsula, where we will be tomorrow.