Last sunday I took a 6-hour shuttle/ferry/shuttle ride from Santa Teresa to Santa Elena. The plan for the week was to travel with my friend Kurt. Since Kurt had just 1 week to spend in Costa Rica he had us on the go with outdoor adventure activities everyday. We kicked off the week by taking a guided night hike in a tropical rain forest. The highlights included seeing a mother and baby sloth, a tarantula, a huge ant mound, a 100-year old fig tree, and a variety of nocturnal insects including two stick insects that were in the process of mating.
We were lucky to get a couple of mostly sunny days while in Monteverde. We hiked through the Monteverde Biological Reserve which is a cloud and rain forest with well maintained hiking trails. The reserve is filled with overwhelmingly dense tropical plant and tree growth.
The same day we did a short but challenging hike to the San Luis waterfall. Colorful butterflies and birds, more interesting plant life, a scenic river, and several makeshift bridges led us to an incredible waterfall and pool.
In the same area we also did an afternoon of mountain biking. On this excursion we were handed a map and directions from a friendly Italian hotel owner and set off on our ride. We covered a lot of ground going down a steep trail leading past several farms into a small village. At times the trail was so steep and rocky we had to walk our bikes. Along the way we got a got a great view of the surrounding valley, saw a rainbow, a sunset, and an above ground cemetery. The ride might have been a bit longer than we expected as we didn't finish until well after nightfall.
Mid-week we drove to La Fortuna, an area best known for the Arenal Volcano. The volcano has been active since 1968 but because of continual rain and clouds we were not able to see it. We did get in another rainy cloud forest hike and also visited the Tabacon hot springs. The hot springs feature thermo-mineral rivers, soothing pools, and waterfalls set amidst tropical gardens. We soaked in the mineral wates for a good 2+ hours.
After spending most of the week in cool and damp locations Kurt wanted to end his trip with some warmer weather. We drove to to a beach town called Jaco. It was good to feel the sun and higher temperatures again. We checked out the town, did another bike trek, and cooled off afterwards with a swim in the ocean. The bike ride took us out of town down a dirt/gravel road that climbed a little ways into the nearby mountains. We found a river and waterfall to cool off in and thoroughly enjoyed the downhill return trip. It was a memorable week traveling with Kurt. Now it's time to catch a bus to Uvita.
