03 January 2025

Day 6: Monteverde and travel

We got up at 5.45 this morning to hit the road for a long day of travel.  From La Fortuna, we drove to Monteverde, the mountaintop district in the center of the country.  The distance wasn't far as the crow flies but the road trip took around 3 hours.  The first half was on twisty roads, and the second half was on twisty roads that were unpaved and full of potholes.  And, it rained almost the whole way there.  

After about 3 hours on the road, we got to Selvatura, one of the outdoor naturalist/adventure companies in the area.  We had signed up for an amazing zipline experience, but the rain was so intense that we decided to change our plans.  We started with a two-hour naturalist walk through the woods and the hanging bridges.  The tour was great, though it rained and was quite chilly.  We made friends with a father/daughter (adult daughter) combo from New Zealand who were also on the tour.  The walk was great, and our guide showed us a lot of cool things that we would have missed had we not had him pointing them out.  We even saw a quetzal, which was a rare treat!


Juan Carlos was our guide.

Visibility was poor.







After the walk, we jumped right in a queue to see the sloth house. Since zoos are illegal in Costa Rica, the only sloths allowed to be kept in captivity are either in research institutions or sanctuaries.  This sanctuary had 12 female sloths, and we were lucky to visit right as they were having their afternoon meal!









After the sloth house, we grabbed a fast lunch of chicken soup and quesadilla and began the drive down to Parque Manuel Antonio and the Hotel Costa Verde, our home for the next few nights.  The drive was scheduled to take 4 hours, and it started in much the same way as the first half of the drive ended - with rain, potholes, sharp corners, and steep terrain.  Very glad we had a 4wd vehicle.

We finally left the potholes behind and descended towards the coast, including a stint on the Inter-American Highway.  We started driving along the coast as the sun set.  We stopped for dinner at a restaurant along the way, finally getting to the hotel at around 8pm.  H was feeling sick (sore through, exhaustion), so we put her right to bed while S and I settled in.  We've got a two room bungalow, so we don't all have to go to sleep at the same time.  

Tomorrow's plans are in flux.  We were supposed to all get up for a naturalist visit to Manuel Antonio tomorrow, but with the late arrival and H feeling crumby, we're playing flexible.  No alarm for her.  S will def meet the naturalist.  I'll stay with H.

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