It’s no secret that my favorite animals on the planet are cetaceans – whales especially, but I love dolphins and porpoises too. But my second favorite marine species – which I love almost as much – has to be sea turtles. And so far I’ve been on two dive trips and lucky enough to see sea turtles on both. In fact, in Roatan, we saw them multiple times.
The first time we saw a sea turtle, he was a massive beastie – about the size of a Volkswagen. Even the divemaster was gobsmacked. Sadly, my camera battery was dead and my camera was chilling in my bag on the boat, waiting for a charge back at the hotel. But the sea turtles obliged by showing up three more times after that – none as big as that first guy, but still plenty exciting for all that.
This one was very busy exploring the reef. Looking for snacks, probably.
Eventually he drifted off into the blue.
One of the highlights of our final dive (this time, because we’ll definitely be back to Roatan) was a visit from three sea turtles who circled around us for our entire safety stop. Our dive buddy Alex had a moment with one of them – almost swam off into the great ocean together.
Oh, sea turtles! Words cannot express how much I love you. Please join me on every single dive.
That concludes this short series of highlights from my digital nomad week on Roatan Island, Honduras! For the next couple of weeks, I will be taking off Friday travel posts and replacing them with holiday fun. Starting in the new year, Friday travel posting continues with something COMPLETELY different. Check in with me then to find out!
In diver lingo, a surface interval is basically exactly what it sounds like: an interval of time that you spend at the surface between dives. On multi-dive days, you need a certain amount of time between dives in order to let the nitrogen bubbles dissipate from your blood. Between dive trips, it’s all surface interval – ha.
Our surface intervals on Roatan were mostly spent typing away on our laptops – it was another digital nomad week for us. Mornings were for scuba, afternoons were for lawyering. Not a bad life.
Especially when your afternoon lawyering is done at this beautiful place! We stayed at Barefoot Cay Resort, on the East side of Roatan. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot.
Most of the Barefoot Cay buildings are on a private island. It’s a tiny little island, and in the evenings before dinner Steve and I circled it over and over, getting our steps in (no days off for the Garmin watches!).
We stayed in a little bungalow right on the beach. There was a family of bats that stayed with us – cuddled up together in the eaves of our porch by day. Too cute! Speaking of cute, but in a totally different sense, I was obsessed with the woven pendant lights hanging from the trees near the resort’s restaurant, Silversides.
In the mornings, due to the high winds on the East side of the island, we were loaded into a hotel van and driven to the West side to do our dives. One of the hotel’s dive boats was docked by this gorgeous sandy beach, where our captain, Justin, and our divemasters, Danny and Ron, waited for us every morning.
The street was lined with dive shops. It’s easy to see what Roatan’s favorite activity is!
In between dives, we hung out on our boat – the Marea – chatting with Justin, Danny and Ron, and the other divers (and on one day, snorkelers) while we drove between dive sites or bobbed around waiting for the green light to hop back in the water.
During one surface interval, Justin drove us past the dolphins at Anthony’s Key, one of the biggest resorts on the island. Worth noting: this is not a holding pen. The dolphins are free to come and go as they please; those that were swimming around between the docks were there by choice, much to my relief. (Also, please excuse whatever is happening with the color in this picture. I don’t know why it’s all purple.)
Most days, we wrapped up our dives shortly before lunchtime and headed back to eat at Silversides before diving into work for the afternoon. But on our last day, our dive buddies Alex and Emily suggested that the four of us get dropped off at the Roatan Island Brewing Company for lunch – just to do something a little different.
We shared flights of beer, mango slices with dipping spices, crispy breadfruit – a Roatan favorite – and chicken quesadillas. Yum.
Definitely a fun way to celebrate adding twelve dives to our resumes!
Next week: back in the water for the biggest (literally) highlight of the week. Check in with me then!
Over the past few years – starting in 2020 – we’ve dispatched Peanut and Nugget off to New York for a couple of weeks of grandparent fun over the summer. In 2020, we just stayed home in Virginia and worked, but in 2021, Steve and I snuck off for a “digital nomad” week in the Adirondacks – hiking and kayaking around our remote work schedules. This past summer, my mom called and asked if we were thinking of doing the same thing this time. We shrugged and said we would be happy to loan out the kids again, and started planning Adirondack paddles. Then one evening, as I was surfing the internet on my phone while sitting with Nugget at bedtime, it occurred to me – we didn’t have to go to the Adirondacks. We love it there, of course, but there’s no law saying that’s where we have to go when the kids stay with my parents in the summer. We’d been talking wistfully about scuba diving, after the fun we had getting certified in Costa Rica, and it hit me: we could go anywhere. We could go diving. I started researching potential locations and immediately narrowed the options down to two: Cayman Brac and Roatan. After some extra research, I decided – Roatan it was.
Roatan is the largest of three Bay Islands – Islas de la Bahia – off the coast of Honduras. It sits in the midst of a section of the vibrant, healthy Mesoamerican Reef. The reef is teeming with life all year long – everything from tiny nudibranchs and seahorses – to large pelagic species like whale sharks and hammerheads. It’s also warm, relatively shallow, and mostly free of currents: perfect for novice divers. Seemed like a no-brainer, so we quickly booked into Barefoot Cay Resort, a five-star PADI dive center, and booked our dive package.
We arrived at Barefoot Cay, checked in at the dive shop, and learned about what to expect for the week. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t looking promising; one of the main points that sold me on this resort was the ability to get to dive sites within a ten minutes’ boat ride from the dock. As it happened, we were there during the windiest month of the year – July – and it wasn’t safe to dive on the side of the island where our resort was located. Instead, we were loaded into a van each morning and driven to the other side of the island (where the wind was much lower and the weather better, thanks to a line of hills breaking the wind along the backbone of the island).
Instead, we dove from a resort-owned boat that was docked off this beautiful sandy beach and charming stretch of shops and dive centers. The island is surrounded by dive sites on all sides, so we had plenty of options for incredible diving. I won’t recap every dive in its own post – each one felt very different to me, but it’s a lot of blue pictures that will probably run together. But there were a few standouts that I just have to show you.
This was our divemaster, Danny. We were paired with another couple – who were on their honeymoon, just like our dive buddies from Costa Rica; we seem to attract honeymooners – and the four of us dove with Danny all week. Our Roatan dive buddies, Alex and Emily, turned out to be just as fun, funny, interesting and kind as our Costa Rica dive buddies, Garry and Donna. The four of us hit it off immediately and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend the week diving with – or dissecting the dives over cocktails with every evening.
The first couple of dives were nice and shallow – a good way to get our fins wet.
Ain’t no party like a garden eel dance party, ’cause a garden eel dance party is underwater! Mandy’s Eel Garden was a highlight in a week of highlights. And the garden eels swaying in the gentle current – well, I never thought I’d use the word “adorable” to describe eels, but they really were.
The Mesoamerican Reef was incredible – gloriously healthy and colorful. Our new dive buddies, Alex and Emily, described the bleached coral in the Caymans, and assured us that we were lucky to be exploring such a vibrant reef in Roatan. (Don’t mind the blue/green tint of the pictures here – I am still getting the hang of underwater photography. The reef was a rainbow.)
Of course, the biggest highlight of any dive is getting to swim alongside the best dive buddy. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather dive with.
Trying to use my fins to white balance. It didn’t work.
Brain coral! So spooky.
Speaking of spooky, Danny took us on one dive to the El Aguila shipwreck. Let me tell you, swimming along through endless blue gloom and then a mast looms up in front of you is a vibe. I felt a little bit like The Little Mermaid.
The couple that wreck dives together stays together, right Steve? I love this picture. Look how hardcore we look!
The opposite of hardcore: this seahorse. He was actually very large for a seahorse – several inches, with a big pregnant belly – and bright yellow. Our dive buddy, Emily, described him as a Giant Cartoon Seahorse.
Also not hardcore: this parrotfish. We saw them all over the place, and every single one looked like a child’s squeaky bath toy.
We did not see any whale sharks (wrong season – they do turn up anytime during the year, but July is not their big migration time so they’re a rare sight) or hammerheads, much to Steve’s dismay. (We’ll just have to go back to Roatan – twist my arm.) But we did see a massive nurse shark sleeping on the seafloor. See the dorsal fin and long tail tucked away? Look closely.
One pelagic species we did see: spotted eagle rays, which flew past us as casually as you please. They were gone in a flash, but what a flash it was.
On one of our first dives, Emily spotted a conch. After she mentioned seeing one, I started seeing them everywhere.
A river of “goggle eyes” on our last dive. I started diving to face and overcome a fear of fish, so to rest peacefully in the water and take in this site – and find it impressive and moving instead of terrifying – was a huge victory for me.
We also made a game out of spotting as many Caribbean spiny lobsters as we could.
Tunnels, swim-throughs and tight squeezes. Steve didn’t really enjoy these, but our divemaster added them into a few dives because Alex and Emily did. (Important for everyone to get to do what they like!) I viewed them as a personal challenge: could I make it through a swim-through without freaking out? I was really proud of myself for tackling this more intermediate level diving.
These are just a few of the highlights Roatan had to offer! Next week, I’ll show you where we spent our surface intervals. Check in with me then!
Our last morning in Costa Rica was spent kayaking the Rio Penas Blancas with a “float safari” group – I’m not doing a full post because it actually was the only experience we had in Costa Rica that wasn’t great. We did see some cool animals, including long-nosed bats, squirrel monkeys, several kinds of kingfishers, an American crocodile, and a juvenile sloth way up in a tree.
I was also a little on edge because when we got back to our hotel, we had our COVID test scheduled – this was the days when a negative COVID test was required to get back into the United States, and while I felt fine (and had barely been inside for the last week and a half) I was terrified of the idea of a positive test stranding me in Costa Rica. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the test was over – and negative, so we were cleared to go home the next day, whew – and we decided to celebrate with one more adventure. Our guide from Monteverde, Felix, had recommended a trail called the Bogarin Trail, which starts from practically the middle of downtown La Fortuna.
We ate a quick lunch, then drove over to the trail and decided our mission was going to be to spot a sloth.
This looks promising.
We’d seen a sloth about a hundred feet up in a tree in Corcovado National Park, and a young one nestled – and well camouflaged – in a tree on the Rio Penas Blancas that morning, but we wanted a really good view before we went home. The first clue came when we saw a cluster of people gathered around a guide with a scope, peering up into a tree.
Well, there you are!
This was an adult female, very slowly and meditatively chewing her way through a lunch of green leaves.
We walked a bit further along the trail and were stopped by another group, who pointed out a small spur trail and promised an extra special treat just on the other side of a line of trees – a mother sloth and baby! We thanked them, hurried over the spur trail, and found several guided groups gathered around and taking in this sight:
It does not get cuter than this.
Eventually, the mother sloth decided to move up the tree, and we watched as she cautiously picked her way along the branches.
I seriously could not get over those fuzzy little arms and legs clinging to Mom. Reminded me of Nugget, but you know – fuzzier.
Eventually, Mom and baby made their way up into the higher branches, and we decided to move on and see if we could find “our own” sloth – i.e. without the clue of a big group of tourists clustered around a guide. We picked our way along the trail at sloth pace – it was definitely the slowest we’ve ever hiked – craning our necks up into the treetops. Eventually, we were rewarded when Steve pointed and called out that he’d spotted something:
That’s another mom and baby pair!
Such an amazing sight and a total treat – definitely the best way to say goodbye (for now, because we’ll definitely be back) to Costa Rica. We watched this pair for a long time, then – grinning broadly – made our way back to the trailhead. There was one more treat in store for us, though: the park staff had a suite of birdfeeders and tropical fruits that they kept constantly replenished, and a rainbow of colorful birds were hopping around enjoying the feast.
What a way to bid Costa Rica farewell! We were ready to go home – missing the kids, that is; I think we could have stayed for years if they were with us. But we were bringing home a store of memories of adventures and surprises, and definitely planning to return. For now, though, it was time to get back to real life.
This is the end of our time in Costa Rica – for now, anyway, because as noted above we’ll definitely be back. But it’s not the end of Friday travel posts! I’m still way behind and have plenty of adventures to share. Next week, it’s back to Central America: over the summer, Steve and I spent a week being “digital nomads” in Roatan, Honduras – scuba diving in the mornings and working in the afternoons. I won’t go day by day, but I do have some underwater highlights to share with you. Check in with me then!
Our Costa Rica agenda was funny. We started in Osa, the most off-the-beaten-path corner of the country – accessible only by boat or small plane (unless you wanted to drive probably ten hours over bumpy dirt roads) and sought out generally by the most hardcore of nature lovers. Then we moved up to Monteverde, which was definitely more populated and more visited by tourists, but relatively relaxed all the same. And we finished our trip in Arenal, based in the bustling town of La Fortuna, which – thanks to an abundance of hot springs – is probably the most touristy part of the entire country. But all the same, we were not planning to seek out the biggest tourist attraction in La Fortuna – Catarata Rio Fortuna. Instead, we had designs on renting kayaks on Lake Arenal, and taking in the imposing view of Arenal from the water. Arenal had other plans, though: it kicked up a massive rainstorm that sent us fleeing inside from the restaurant deck while we were eating a pre-paddle lunch, and scrambling to find another activity for the afternoon (because even after the rain stopped, the wind and waves continued).
Enter the Rio Fortuna waterfall.
Steve suggested it as an alternative; I agreed without any idea of what the activity was all about – I hadn’t even researched it past hearing it was a big tourist attraction and deciding to skip it (since we’d already seen the incredible Catarata Rio Celeste). My first indication that it was something different came at the Disney-esque ticket booths just off the parking lot, and the lines of bikini-clad tourists. This doesn’t seem to be an ordinary hike to a waterfall? Suspicions were confirmed as we walked along the manicured path past a snack restaurant and a large gift shop – all of which we passed before catching our first glimpse of the waterfall.
The only ones dressed for hiking, not swimming – ready to walk 500 steps down to the waterfall.
We climbed down the stairs – I’m not kidding about there being 500, that’s exactly how many there were, and with each step down I worried more about the climb back up – and picked our way over the rocks and around the swimmers to check out the waterfall. (Hiking boots do come in handy, folks.) Going by the grimaces on the faces of the few people who had actually gotten in the water, I gathered it was very cold.
We sat on the rocks and took in the view for awhile – touristy, yes, but darn spectacular all the same. The water cascaded down in a thinner stream than Catarata Rio Celeste, and the pool below was a deeper green-blue: just stunning. After a few minutes of sitting and gazing, though, I started to get a bit of an itch. A little voice in my head started to whisper…
It would be a shame to come all this way and not jump in.
You’ll probably never come back here. This is probably your only chance.
It’s an adventure.
Wet clothes will feel nice walking up all those stairs.
Well, I’m not one to turn down an adventure. I took off my boots and socks and waded onto the first layer of submerged rocks, then jumped forward. The water was frigid and the waves kicking back from the waterfall kept slapping me in the face so that I could barely see anything but water.
I think I had a giant grin on my face the entire time.
I think I stayed in for about ten minutes? I don’t really know – it was cold, and time seemed to slow down. I did manage to tread water while several couples hopped in and then out, shivering, so I felt pretty bad@$$ for that.
Jumping into Catarata Rio Fortuna with all of my clothes on definitely wasn’t the plan for the afternoon – but it was an experience I won’t forget.
Next week: wrapping up our time in Costa Rica with an encounter with one of its most iconic wildlife species.
After the Arenal 1968 trail, our next stop was just a few short minutes down the road – Arenal Volcano National Park.
We thought that hiking another trail to another volcano viewpoint might be a little bit redundant, but we weren’t willing to miss out on a beautiful national park when we had the opportunity to visit it. And the clouds were finally starting to clear, so it seemed like we might have another chance at a view of the entire volcano, this time not shrouded in clouds and mist.
Setting off down this short trail, Steve remarked, “I feel like I’m in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!” I knew exactly what he meant. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see an elephant-sized ant come wandering down the trail.
Eventually we made it out of the dappled sunshine of the trailhead and into a shadier forest.
Most of the trail elevation gain was via a couple of green-painted metal staircases that blended in with the canopy.
Before we knew it, we reached a clearing and got our first really good volcanic view of the day. The skies had cleared and Arenal was out in all its imposing glory.
We spent a long time looking out over the volcano and taking in all the details – like this heart-shapped fissure.
It was fascinating to watch the clouds roll across the landscape and see the interplay of light and shadow on the volcano.
This was a really fascinating day. In addition to all the flora and fauna of the trails, it was just fascinating to see the volcano and talk about it. I felt a little guilty about enjoying myself so much – it felt a bit jarring to be out on the trail, soaking up sunshine and enjoying movement and fresh air and this compelling landscape when I knew that this volcano was deadly and was the source of a horrific tragedy within my parents’ lifetime. Interesting to reflect on how hiking can be personally enriching but we are walking through landscapes that have much larger context.
The trail back was fascinating too. It was always cool to see the famous walking palms (socratea exorrhiza). The trees “walk” from sunlight to shade by growing their roots in the direction they want to travel and then allowing old roots to lift out of the ground and die – wild. Did we call them Ents? You know we did.
We also saw a massive kapok tree, which we especially loved because Peanut starred as a caiman in a play called “Save the Great Kapok Tree!” in her kindergarten class.
Back at the trailhead! What a special place and a beautiful, fascinating hike.
Next week: when in Arenal, you swim in Catarata Rio Fortuna.
Arenal is a massive cone-shaped volcano that towers over the surrounding area, including the town of La Fortuna and the neighboring Lake Arenal. The rich volcanic soil, bubbling hot springs and gorgeous flowers growing in the rich volcanic soil draw enthusiastic visitors – including us. Arenal erupted in 1968 and buried a village, and the Arenal 1968 trail acts as a monument to the tragic event.
Just off the parking lot was an exhibit with some information about the tragedy, and a scale model.
We set off on the trail in a cool mist – the day felt suitably somber to be hiking this particular trail.
The dirt trail was much darker in color and grittier in texture than other trails we had hiked in Costa Rica – that’s the volcanic soil.
There was also pumice all along the trail – we picked it up to see how light it was (and then put it back where we found it! #leavenotrace).
Massive tree roots! Pretty amazing to think that all of this foliage grew up after 1968.
Thanks to the rich volcanic soil, the trail was starred all the way up with absolutely spectacular orchids and lilies.
I’m sure I was driving Steve crazy, but I had to stop and take a picture of every! single! flower!
The trail climbed gently to a viewpoint that looked out over the side of the volcano.
Eventually, we reached the trail summit and were rewarded with a spectacular view. Even with the top of Arenal shrouded in mist, it was an arresting sight.
We watched for awhile as the clouds started to roll down off the mountain – hoping that the cone would come out so we could really take it in. The slope of the mountain did start to clear, but eventually we had to turn back and head for the car and our next hike.
More stunning flowers on our way down from the viewpoint…
We stopped to take in the view of Lake Los Patos and were surprised by two toucans swooping out of the trees and across the lake – easily identifiable by their huge yellow beaks. Sadly, I was not quick enough with my camera to capture them – those guys are fast. Steve mused that he hadn’t realized what a treasure the roosting toucan was that we saw while kayaking around Drake Bay on our first afternoon in Osa; all of the others we saw were almost impossible to capture.
We did get a good look at a Lesson’s Mot-Mot! Look at those tail bobbles!
Towards the end of the hike, we came up on a beautiful viewpoint overlooking Lake Arenal – look at that! I was really hoping to get out on the lake for a paddle, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Still such a treat to take it in from this vantage point.
Wrapping up our time in Monteverde, Steve and I hit the road to head to our final destination in Costa Rica: the Arenal volcano region. Since it was a drive of a few hours, we looked around for something to break up the travel time, and I immediately hit upon visiting another of Costa Rica’s gorgeous national parks: Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio, home of the spectacularly beautiful Rio Celeste. It was a hot day, and we waited in line in full sun for over two hours to get into the park – fair warning to aspiring travelers – but it was well worth it. Once we finally made it through the park gates, we struck off on a shady trail that climbed up, up, up, and then WAY down to this:
Catarata Rio Celeste pours into a milky, electric blue, pool surrounded by mosses and overhanging trees and spilling out onto a rocky streambed – absolutely enchanting.
Full disclosure: the hike to the waterfall was surprisingly tough. We are experienced hikers and I think we’re decently conditioned to the trail, but this one was actually quite difficult. There were quite a few long staircases – including the last one to get down to the waterfall (and then back up when you were done gorging on beauty) – and sections of sticky mud and uneven rocks and roots. And yet the trail was crowded with Sunday walkers hiking along in delicate sandals and seeming to have an easier time of it than we were. I wonder if it was the altitude? The maximum altitude of the park is over 6,500 feet, and I don’t know how high up this trail was – it did climb a fair amount. So I’m going with altitude. That’s definitely what it was.
I mean. Look at that.
According to my guidebook, local legend holds that when God finished painting the sky, He washed His paintbrushes in Rio Celeste. It definitely checks out.
The scientific explanation is that it’s a mineral in the water, composed of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen, that gives the water that milky, but bright, blue color. (I have to say I like the God’s paintbrushes explanation better…) Well, whatever the reason, it’s stunning.
The water continues cascading down the rocky streambed. It’s so beautiful it doesn’t even look real – but I assure you, it is.
After we’d stood and drunk in the view for awhile, we turned and began the agonizing climb back up the stairs (oof) and then had a decision to make. The trail continues on for miles through the forest, past multiple beautiful landmarks – we could keep following it, or we could turn back (having seen the main view we came for). The next stop on the trail was Laguna Azul, which was only a little more than half a kilometer onward. Now, how could we resist a blue lagoon? Clearly we had to keep going, at least to that point. The mud and uneven ground and climbing continued – if anything, the trail got more intense (but less crowded, so that was something). Was it worth it? See for yourself:
Laguna Azul was cool to see because it’s actually the point where the waters from upstream mingle with the first introduction of minerals, and you can actually see the water changing from clear to milky blue. It was hard to capture, because the camera angle was not good – but look at the far right of the picture above. See how the water is clear, and then it hits the minerals in the lagoon, mingles, and turns opaque? Amazingly cool to see.
Just super, super fascinating and beautiful.
From the blue lagoon, the water continues off downstream – headed for Catarata Rio Celeste, the beauty spot we’d just hiked up from.
I’d have loved to stay and explore more along this captivating trail, but we were hot, tired and hungry – and we had a long road ahead to Arenal. It was time to turn back, and catch one more glimpse from way above Catarata Rio Celeste as we moved on to our next stop. This was just a short interlude, but about as memorable as they come.
Next week: we eat some Costa Rican food! Pura vida!
On our last afternoon in Monteverde, I had a solo adventure planned – ziplining! Steve had no interest in joining me, but I didn’t want to leave the home of ziplining without putting on a harness and finding out for myself what it feels like to fly. At first, I was thinking of doing the Original Canopy Tour, which I had heard was the very first recreational ziplining experience anywhere in the world and is still in operation today – but after chatting with a few different people (including our dive buddies from Osa, Garry and Donna) it seemed like Selvatura Adventure Park, another option, was the most popular. So I booked it, and when the time came left Steve relaxing at the hotel and waited anxiously for a bus to pick me up and drive me to Selvatura.
I got to the park, went through an equipment fitting and briefing, and then hopped into another bus to be driven to the first zipline. Along with about twenty other people in my group, I watched two park employees perform a demonstration and before I knew it – it was time to climb the stairs and try it out for myself.
What have I gotten myself into?
There were thirteen (lucky!) ziplines in all, and the final line – pictured above – was a whopping one whole kilometer long. What a rush!
Clipped in and ready to go!
WOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
What an experience! I loved it – did not find it at all scary; it was totally exhilarating and even meditative at times, as I soared over treetops and valley floors, hundreds of feet in the air at times, on the longest of the lines. Really the only thing that would have made the experience better would have been to share it with someone – especially on the longer ziplines, which require two people to zip together; being by myself, I had to go with a park employee and that was a bit weird. But it was 100% worth it, and I’m so glad I had this experience. I’ve always wanted to try ziplining, and in my younger days I would have just sat it out (and been disappointed) because Steve didn’t want to do it. These days, I am more sure of myself and more willing to go out and have an experience that I want, and I’m fine if it means I have to go it alone. (I’m glad that most of my adventures are shared experiences, though – Steve is the world’s best hiking partner and dive buddy.)
Zip on, Monteverde!
Have you ever been ziplining? Did you love it or were you terrified or both?
For our second day in Monteverde, I planned the adventures – starting with an early morning hike with breakfast, tea, and hopefully some more exciting avian sightings. The hike was guided, and arranged through our hotel, so we were in the lobby waiting at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
It was a small group – just us, one other couple (who were from San Francisco and adding a few days in Monteverde after a two-week Ayurveda retreat; we hit it off immediately) and the driver and guide. We drove a mile or so, still on hotel property, and then set out for our walk. Almost immediately, we heard a quetzal calling – but weren’t lucky enough to see one two days in a row. (We were still walking on air from the previous day’s sighting, though, so it was okay.) Our guide led us through the woods, pointing out the occasional bird, and soon we approached our breakfast destination: a platform built into the trees, sitting almost on top of the Continental Divide.
A few hotel employees had arrived ahead of us and set up a delicious looking spread, but in order to get to it we had to cross a hanging bridge. Not a big deal at all for me – I’m very comfortable with heights and had been hoping to get my feet onto one of Monteverde’s famous hanging bridges. But Steve has vertigo and a strong fear of heights, and he was not happy. He made the crossing, but realizing that it wasn’t necessary to get to the next part of the hike, he quickly grabbed his breakfast and hightailed it back to solid ground.
No such scruples for me! Roped in and ready to go.
I had way too much fun. Give me a harness and a helmet and I’m happy. (I’ve often suspected that I missed my calling and should have been a window washer.)
Breakfast! There were three ham sandwiches (for Steve and the other couple) and one turkey (for me – I don’t eat four legged friends). The ciabatta bread was delicious, and I loved the little sprig of rosemary tucked into the wrapper, a very nice touch. The breakfast included fruit kebabs, juice and fabulous Costa Rican coffee, too.
Also, how can you argue with breakfast in the treetops right on the Continental Divide? The mists were rolling in over the cloud forest and it was just beautiful. I felt a little bad about staying on the platform to eat while Steve was back on the trail, but I figured it would be okay, since how often do I get to have a meal a hundred feet above the ground?
Pretty happy!
(Thanks to the nice other couple for taking this picture of me. Why didn’t I take off my mask?)
While I ate breakfast, I checked out the flora around me in the treetops and watched the skies clear. What a beautiful spot!
So cool. After we’d all had our fill of the giddy air in the treetops, it was time to clip back in, cross the hanging bridge, and continue on our way. (Steve had a long list of the birds he’d seen while he waited on solid ground.)
The next brief stopover (for water and restroom) was this little hideaway, tucked into the woods. We looked at an exhibit about the insect life, hydrated, and moved on.
Our ultimate destination was a garden, tucked away in an out-of-the-way corner of the hotel property. It was packed full of flowers, herbs, and enchanting little corners. The hotel staff had set up a table with homegrown herbal teas for us, and we were treated to a crash course in the benefits of each herb (all of which I have now forgotten, but it sure did taste amazing).
After tea, we were turned loose to explore the garden. I couldn’t get enough of the flowers. Considering the wintery landscape we’d escaped back in D.C., this was paradise indeed.
I could have stayed and taken in these flowers for ages, but we had to move on eventually – we had more stops to make. Our guide explained that if we drove a little further into the countryside, we could possibly see the bellbird – another iconic Costa Rican species, and one that Steve and I had not spotted on our treks through Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve or Reserva Curi-Cancha the day before. We all agreed eagerly, and after a bumpy car ride (at one point, I grabbed the side handle in order to scoot away from the other woman on the tour – we were crammed together in the backseat and I didn’t know her well, so wasn’t that keen on snuggling – and our guide got the impression that I was scared of the road and advised, “We call it a Costa Rican car massage. Just sit back and let it happen to you.” LOL!) we arrived at the spot where our guide thought we may see a bellbird.
Bellbird check! I wish I could show you a video – this bird really did sound like a ringing bell. We hiked a little ways along the road into the countryside and it sounded like bells were ringing all around us. Just magical.
Ended the morning at a beautiful overlook, drinking in the sight of rolling hills and the Pacific Ocean rolling into the Gulf of Nicoya. Gorgeous!
Next week: my afternoon’s activity involved a little more adrenaline…
covered in flour 