Where they stayed: Hotel Cipreses, a 5 minute walk outside of the tiny town of Monteverde. The Monteverde region was settled by American quakers who were fleeing the draft. They learned how to make cheese, turned it into one of the biggest exports of the region (in addition to coffee, of course), and taught all the local children english. These children later became excellent tour guides, including their own Eduardo who attended an english quaker school. The hotel was set into a gorgeous mountainous landscape...the only downside was that they could hear our neighbours breathing through thin walls, or random strangers puking outside... a noise described by one of our tour-mates as "a wild beast giving birth".
What they ate and drank: Some of the best food of their trip... starting with a home cooked lunch en route to Monteverde during a tour of a coffee farm where they also sampled coffee beans, cocoa powder, sugar cane alcohol, brown sugar and fudge. They followed this up at a fancy restaurant called Trio where Britt got the triple mango threat: a mango cocktail, a mango salad with goat cheese, nuts, and arugula, and a chicken and mango sandwich. Yes, the server commented on it. Ashley ate a coconut flake crusted chicken (well, she mostly ate Britt's meal instead, but hey, she did drink her whole mango cocktail). These were followed up by beers at a local bar "Three Amigos" with their young tour mate (and some others, they aren't the only bad influences) which included him showing them up on the dance floor. The next day they ate a light breakfast before walking the cloud forest and zip lining (so as not to have their own wild beast giving birth incident), but after surviving had one of the most amazing meals: baja fish tacos and veggie tacos. They ate at a restaurant built around a tree, and had "Sex in the Tree" cocktails, to which the server said to Ashley, "here, or would you prefer that branch". Those of you who know her know how awkward she was in response to this. They shared a veggie pizza and a salad that paled in comparison to the mango salad, but was okay.
What they did: Saw scary things. After the aforementioned coffee and chocolate tour, they went on a "Night Hike" in forests of Monteverde. 65% of animals/insects in the region are nocturnal. Yielding flashlights as their only protection against the creatures of the night (which sort of makes it sound like they were stalking vampires...) they followed their fearless leader Bernaldo, who had been doing these night hikes for the past 10 years. Picture: Crocodile hunter, except instead of finding crocodiles our guide enticed an orange-kneed tarantula out of her home and carefully flashed light at a side striped viper. They later realized that the searching, and occasional having them all turn out their flashlights and stand in the dark forest waiting for animals to creep out was likely for show, as tarantula's can live up to 20 years and occupy th same home... it wasn't as if she was stalking them through the forest, waiting for human blood... more like a natural zoo. Despite rationally knowing this, Ashley still asked the guide where the nearest clinic was after learning that the side striped viper was poisonous within 2 to 3 hours of a bite to which he replied "30 minutes away, but guess what, it closes at 6". These Tico tour guides think they are pretty funny. The next day they had a guided tour through the Cloud Forest, which made Ashley feel like she was a fairy in Fern Gulley, surrounded by the lush growth, and gave Britt a chance to play with the settings on her new camera and catch some great shots of... everthing. Note: factual information in this blog is compliments of the one of them who listens on tours :P The cloud forest was also home to orange kneed tarantulas, sloths, flying soup bird and a myriad of insects including stick bugs, which are pretty cool. Random fact: the cloud forest has its name from the perpetual mist that is blown across the forest... except the day when we were there, as it was sunny, with not a cloud or bit of mist in th sky. Britt and Ash ventured from this place of tranquility straight to zip lining. Zip lining was a series of 11 lines, the longest of which was 1590 meters (CRAZY, right?). The longest zip line started at the top of a hill that they had to climb, at which point the words "We need to work out" were muttered for th second, third, and fourth time. It was well worth it, flying over the canopy, and as they did not do the superman they got to go together... After they told their parents they were alive, they went into town for some souvenir shopping.
Lessons Learned: Don't pet a stray dog in Costa Rica or she will think she is your pet and will follow you around town and home. Don't leave your key at reception if you're going to go out to the bar and you are at a hotel that doesn't have 24 hour reception. Don't be too surprised if you see your purchase of 'local art' in support of 'local Monteverde artists' at the next souvenir shop.
Best funny conversation: One of their tour-mates was having a hard time learning names, and somehow decided Ashley was called Brenda and Britt was called Amy. Ray says to tour-mate: Finally, I've figured out their names. Ashley and Brittany. At least I don't have trouble remembering your name, Peter. Tour-mate: My name is James.
More questions for Quepos/Manuel Antonio:
1) Will Britt and Ashley end their trip with massages on the beach?
2) Will Ashley get sucked out into the ocean (and will she mind)?
3)Will Britt's $28 fancy sunscreen purchase keep her safe from an allergic reaction to the sun?
Stay tuned!
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