Cloud Forest

We´re in Nicaragua now, arrived yesterday after taking 4 local buses and a taxi to the town of San Juan Del Sur. Margaret will probably blog later today or tomorrow and give you the full update, but I wanted to get this post out from the other day....we lost internet midway through posting.


January 14

This is my first post and I don't have much time, so I'll just give you a quick update and attempt to attach a few pictures. We arrived in Monteverde the day before yesterday, via a van that brought us to Lake Arenal, where we got a on a boat, which dropped us off at another van. The second van took us up to our hostel here near the Monteverde Reserve. The ride to Monteverde was on a road that is closed during the rainy season because of the steep incline and many potholes- we had a beautiful view of mountains all around us. We spent the afternoon exploring this small, tourist-filled town and visiting with some of the other travelers at the hostel. Yesterday, we woke up at 6ish and took "the bus" which is a school bus (in essence and function) to the Monteverde Reserve. On the way we picked up kids and took them to school. Several aspects of this journey, including the parents a the bus stops and the politics of who sits with who, made me question for a moment if we were on the correct bus. BUT, all was well and we were among the first people of the day to walk through the forest, so we saw many birds and monkeys that we might not have been able to see later in the day when things got more crowded. It was really an amazing place. When you get to the top, and in some places before then, you are really IN THE CLOUDS...and there is a constant mist blows around you.

In the afternoon we went on a zip line tour, known as the biggest/best in the area----we figured if you're gonna go for it, you should GO for it. We met some really funny people on the trip and got to do 10+ zip lines, to repel from a board high off the ground, and to do a "tarzan swing" (imagine small scale bungee jumping). The tarzan swing was awesome, as were the views from the zip lines, which are hundreds of feet above the trees. Tomorrow we are off to Nicaragua...more to come soon. Love to everyone! --Gwen