We set up a toured trip with Carlos from one of the many tour companies in Monteverde, he would pick us up at 7am and drop us back off around 3pm all for $40 per person. He definetly pack in a full day, he spoke great english, had the best personality and was just a wealth of knowledge. First stop was to check out some old ficus trees that have been wrapped around by other vines, that actually kill the tree leaving a hollow vines growing high up.
 |
| how far you going Jerry!! |
 |
| inside looking up |
We then when to La Lecheria cheese factory, which is famous for its quality of cheeses. Production began in 1953 when the original Quaker settlers bought 50 Jersy cattle and began producing pasteurized Monteverde Gouda cheese. The cheese is still a mainstay of the local economy, and the Quaker organizaiton is still active in Monteverde. But no Quakers walking down the road dressed like the guy off the oatmeal box.
 |
| loading the oax cart |
 |
| Making cheese!! |
 |
| We all got some...it was yummy!! |
We then when to a hummingbird gallery where there were 6 feeders which attract hundreds of hummingbirds, they move so fast it is hard to get good pictures of them. They had some of all colors and sizes, and boy are they beautiful.
We then took a long hiking trail up to La Casada, a triple waterfall that continues through the valley of the Rio Penas Blancas to Pocosol, about 20 kilometers south of La Fortuna.
 |
| What an amazing site to see!! |
 |
| This was some cold water...I even dove in...BURRRR!! |
As true in form in Costa Rica it started to poor down rain on our way back down the trail, but luckely it quit when we got to La Bella Tica Cafe, where they have a coffee plantation and they harvist and roast there own organic coffee. This is one of the only organic coffee plantation in all of Costa Rica. The interesting way to know that it is truely organic is that they have bee hives in some of the trees (no pestisides).
 |
| before they go to the field |
 |
| Hundreds of coffee plants |
 |
| The machine that sorts through them and takes off the outer coating and sends them to get washed. |
 |
| We all then tried some of the coffee and of course bought some. |
Costa Rica lies at the heart of one of the most active volcanic regions on earth. Costa Rica is home to seven of the isthmus's 42 avtive volcanoes, plus 60 dormant or extinct ones. First one we went to is Arenal (1,624m) which is Costa Rica's most active volcano, we were lucky we got to see it since it is usually covered by clouds. We stayed in the town of La Fortuna about 15 kilometers from the volcano. We went to Baldi Thermal Springs, where it was $28 us dollars to go to the 12 different hot spring pools and a buffet dinner.
The next morning we got an early start to travel to Poas Volcano, which is a steep and rocky road up through coffee country. Poas volcano lets you go all the way to the very edge of one of the world's largest active craters which is 1.5km wide. The viewing terrace gives a bird's eye view of 320 meters down into the center of the crater.
We then headed to San Jose the nations capital which has like all major cities has a couple of cathedrals, a museum of Jade, a national theatre, a gold museum (which was closed for construction) and a bunch of park squares.
 |
| What a beautiful cathedral |
 |
| how cool is this bridge...do you think it would hold us? |
 |
| The theatre |
We had to drop Nancy off at the airport on the 28th, then we drove the long 6 hours back to Golfito where our boys were happy to see us!
No comments:
Post a Comment