Being a Tourist in Monteverde!

So, I have been here almost three months and I have done very little of the “tourist” things that Monteverde and the Cloud Forest have to offer. Last week however was “touristy”. There were no classes on Friday the 20th so my friend, who works in a tour info office, arranged for us to go Canyoning: repelling down 6 waterfalls and getting wet from head to toe! It was really fun, but by the last waterfall I was cold and ready to get into dry clothes. I didn’t bring a waterproof case or plastic bag for my camera I don’t have any pictures of the beautiful waterfalls and forest we were in. I have a few bruises that still haven’t gone away but it was worth it. Those are the kinds of things you don’t see just hiking, plus it was in a part of the forest that isn’t accessible to just anyone and the trees were just beautiful.
Then on Saturday my friend set up a canopy tour for my friend Macy and I. All the other interns had gone out of town for their last adventure in Costa Rica before many of them left. Some went to Tortuguero (Carribian coast with beautiful nature sites, famous for turtles, hence the name), La Fortuna (to see Volcan Arenal), or to Montesuma (beach with some beautiful sites). Macy and I had stayed behind for money reasons, plus I had done a lot of traveling and wanted to stay “home”. So we joined forces and went on the most amazing tour of the primary forest! Extremo Canopy Tours gives you an amazing thrill, a good hike, and an absolutely outstanding view of the primary forests of Monteverde. You go in a circle as you go from platform to platform in the trees flying along the zip lines and doing your best to absorb everything you see as you go past. In this tour there are 14 zip lines. Some are short but you go really fast and some are really long that take you over valleys. The views are spectacular!! Macy and I had such a blast together.

We met another couple of people that were in Costa Rica long term, and visited Monteverde for the weekend. We traded cameras so that we could try to get pictures of each other on the zip lines. While we were waiting for one of the zip lines we watched a couple of Howler monkeys climb in the trees and one of them got onto a branch right above the zip line and I went right under him. They were not talking but it was cool to see them in the trees of such a beautiful forest.
Then as we were hiking between two of the platforms Macy and I saw a Blue Morpho Butterfly! OMG!! They are the unofficial symbol of Costa Rica. A lot of touristy stuff you see has the Morpho on it. However it is endangered and not seen that often in its natural habitat. You can buy mounted Morphos but as beautiful as their almost metallic coloring is, I don’t know if they were caught legally or if I’d even be able to leave the country with it. I knew I would see one in the butterfly gardens or insect museums but I didn’t think I would have time to see one in nature! So I have seen a sloth and a blue Morpho…now I just have to see a quetzal and I can go home happy!! Some of you may be familiar with the independent film called “The Blue Butterfly”. It is a wonderful family movie that follows a young boy and his mother as they journey through the forests of Costa Rica in search of the Blue Morpho Butterfly which is rumored to have healing powers if caught. The boy is in a wheelchair and it is based on a true story. It was filmed in a rain forest in Costa Rica!!

Thank you so much for keeping up with my blogging!

This Friday I head off to my next adventure: Taking a 15 hour bus to Panama City to meet my best friend!! I’ll try to update before I leave, but if not, don’t be worried if you don’t hear from me for more than a week as I won’t be taking my computer with me. We will have a little more than 48 hours together and I don’t want to waste ANY of it on the computer!

Hugs to all!!

K