I can hardly believe it, we are nearly at day 120 and have reached the last location on our Costa Rica Adventure. It’s crazy how fast time has flown but also incredible to look back at all the memories that we have made in this fantastic adventure so far. We left Manuel Antonio via ‘Expressbus’ which cost $49USD pp and takes about 4 hours – the alternative was 7 hours and 4 public busses, so we chose to spend the extra as I couldn’t deal with 4 publics and the heat! It was great ans as you can see below, Leo had HEAPS of room to spread out in! Upon arrival here, we checked in to ‘Casa Linda Vista’ – it’s a small Air B n B pretty close to the heart of town and is lovely. There are three rooms I think but a good-sized kitchen and nice bathroom etc, so we are fairly happy and at $35NZD per night with breakfast – it’s a great deal. Now, we have been to MANY cloud forests on this trip, but we did want to explore both coasts and the forest while in Costa Rica, so here we are. Lonely planet describes Monteverde as, ‘Strung between two lovingly preserved cloud forests, this slim corridor of civilization consists of the Tico village of Santa Elena and the Quaker settlement of Monteverde, each with an eponymous cloud forest reserve. The cloud forests are premier destinations for everyone from budget backpackers to well-heeled retirees’. We arrived at night so only managed to see the supermarket and cook a delicious backpacker cheapo meal before passing out. This morning we had breaky at 7am which was pancakes and fresh fruit – OMG, Johanna our host knows how to cook up a good pancake! She also serves these with chocolate chips and peanut butter…I could have kissed her! From there we made our way to ‘100% Aventura’ the adrenaline park for some canopy zip lining above the clouds. We have done so many canopy tours and zip lines over the years, but this one stood out as it was for 1 very VERY high up, but also, we were able to do the ‘superman/woman’ which was, emm... new. (I definitely we a little/ a lottle scared) This is where you literally superman pose through the clouds, with the biggest zip line being over 1mile long!! It was pretty scary to be honest. Between that and rappelling down massive trees, we had a wonderful time and to top it off was a mega Tarzan swing at the end which Leo of course jumped at the chance…and I did not. Next on the adventure list was a visit to the ‘giant Ficus tree’ located about 2km’s from where we are staying. Essentially, it is a large tree that you can climb inside and the view from the top overlooks MonteVerde. The activity itself is free and we met an awesome couple at our accommodation, so we all set off on a mission to climb the tree. So, a bit about Ficus Trees. They are also called “strangler trees’’, where they grow next to a host tree and then take over it. The other tree dies, and you’re left with vine-looking branches on the outside and a hollow inside – totally unique experience and highly recommend it. Man, we have had one hell of an awesome first day here. The weather stayed great primarily for the most part and the sunset tonight was out of this world good!
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AuthorHey! I'm Ally. I left the UK in 2011 to move overseas and ended up in New Zealand - my new home. This year we are taking a gap year to loop the world stopping in some AMAZING destinations - and I'm passionate about sharing these adventures with you! ArchivesCategories |