"A walk through the cloud"; exploring the rain forests

With three activities lined up back to back through the day, it was hectic for sure but filled with incredible natural beauty and beaming with fun and excitement for all of us. A guided tour through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve with our passionate guide, David helped us appreciate the immense bio-diversity of this area.

The cool, gray, misty world of the cloud forest has almost 900 species of epiphytes; most tree trunks are covered with mosses, ferns and other plants. The "Ficus" is an interesting tree that grows from upside down as a predator to a tree and in the process "eats" up the who tree creating a "hollow" within it! The collision of moist winds with the Continental divide here creates a constant mist whose particles provide nutrients for plants growing at the upper layers of the forest. (Monteverde spans the continental divide extending from about 1500 mts on the Pacific slope and 1350 mts on the Atlantic slope. )

After a hearty lunch at the "Morphos" restaurant, it was time to go to the second excursion of the day. The excitement was already building in all the three kids as we drove through the rough roads to the family owned Las Brisas farm for our afternoon of horse back riding. Although, the three siblings Catalina, Luis and Robin hardly spoke any English they were extremely helpful in making this a safe and fun experience for all of us. Needless to say, the kids had a blast "commanding" their respective horses to go faster, slow down and cracking up at the sight of them attending to the calls of nature! Kahan was securely harnessed with Chinmay on the mighty "Pinto" and was thoroughly enjoying his ride. The vistas all around us were breathtaking with lush green mountains, forest, views of the countryside, Santa Elena town, La Fortuna and Guancuaste province in the distance! The family who owned this huge farm welcomed us back graciously with fresh squeezed lemonade. Catalina took us to sample some fresh coffee from the locally grown coffee cherries.


The kids enjoyed the hands-on sugar cane juice making, the end product was enjoyed more by us than them! After equally warm "Adios" and "Mucho Gustos", we were headed back to
the hotel to freshen up before the next incredible activity- Night walk through the Santa Maria reserve. As soon as we met our guide, David and got our flash lights we were welcomed by a mama sloth and baby sloth on the top of a tree. The mommy was busy scratching herself while hanging in its usual position, the upside down position to get rid of the insects on her body. This
was as close and as good as it gets in spotting a sloth; the third and the best spotting on our trip! It was really neat walking through the forest, sometimes taking short cuts when David got information about a nocturnal creature that another guide spotted somewhere. A skinny long
vine snake, tarantula, a wiper snake, owl, napping Brown Jay, possum, "Daddy long leg" spiders, stick insect, leaf carrying ants were few of the inmates that we met up close in the thick of this amazing forest. Despite a long action packed tiring day Parishi and Vihaan kept up their untiring explorers' spirit, managing to walk through the muddy paths with their flash lights turning off when a creature was spotted per David's rules. Kahan rode on dad's shoulders for the most part. We
had a late pizza and spaghetti dinner at "Bonna appetit"; the Gorgonzola pizza was delish!

WALKING THROUGH THE MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST RESERVE

HORSE-BACK RIDING THROUGH THE LAS BRISAS FARM

SUGAR CANE JUICE MAKING

Love at first sight with Monteverde

One of the highlights of our rainy Xmas morning in downtown La Fortuna was lunch at "Don Rufinos". The "forest lasagna" was oozing with the cheesy goodness of fresh mozzarella and ricotta and the bursting flavors from caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. The cold Gazpacho was delicious and refreshing and another ice cream cone at "Pops" was a perfect end to a nice meal!

A short car drive took us to the boat at Lake Arenal, where Adya and indulged in coconut water from the road side vendors. The 45 minute boat ride was followed by an hour and a half car drive, which was interesting to say the least. Most of this drive was on a narrow, windy and unpaved "road" ( for lack of a better word!). Nonetheless, it was absolutely scenic with patches of clouds and sunshine and lush landscapes and small villages. Santa Elena is the gateway town close to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and brings back memories of a "hill station" town in India, many of which we would visit growing up. I was instantly in love with everything about the afternoon; the very friendly locals, drivers, guides, the shopkeeper at the restroom stop, the unique play of sunshine and clouds and this quaint town perched up overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya. Our hotel, "Ficus Sunset suites" was a pleasant surprise. With excellent location, walking distance from the town, beautiful lobby and restaurant, very modern and well appointed huge rooms and bathroom, an equally spacious balcony with spectacular views of the sunset, clouds and the Pacific Ocean meeting the horizon, this place exceeded all expectations. The facilities could have been better with inconsistent hot water in the shower being the only major inconvenience. Breakfast was basic with toast, scrambled eggs, fruits, coffee/tea and juice, but quite sufficient especially with an appetite that refused to wake up as early as us to jump start the activities of the day!

DELICIOUS FOREST LASAGNA AT DON RUFINO

CANO NEGRO BOAT RIDE

Cano Negro and the "Pura Vida" spirit

About 5% of the entire planet's bio-diversity can be found in this small country. Tucked away in the northern most part of Costa Rica, on the border of Nicaragua lies a wetland called the "Cano Negro wildlife refuge". It is hands down the best place to see some native Costa Rican birds and animals in their natural habitats. An hour and a half bus ride took us to the small town of Los Chiles from where we boarded the boat on the river Rio Frios. Our knowledgable and nature-loving guide, Francisco and the "hawk-eyed boat driver", Evan made this a trip of a life time for us spotting and helping us view the wild life throughout the three hour long boat ride. White colored Igrets, Roseate spoon-billed, kingfisher, black-collared hawk, several male and female Anhingas, black vultures were some of the birds we saw in their marshland homes. Iguanas, crocodiles and green lizards were their reptile cousins lazing around! Our excitement knew no bounds sighting a two-toed and 3-toed sloth, a big group of howler monkeys and another family of white-faced monkeys doing acrobatics and jumping from one sky-soaring tree
to another at times with a baby in-tandem. Spotting these is far from easy with all their camouflage in action! With an abundance of un-spoilt nature around them, their freedom has no limits- "Pura Vida" in the true sense!

"Pure life" is the literal translation of Pura Vida, but it goes way beyond that. My take home from this trip and from Francisco today is this essential spirit that most locals seem to harbor, an important life lesson that life is good and being grateful for our surroundings regardless of personal wealth and possessions. The positive energy that this simple and catchy phrase emits out in the universe is probably what keeps the Costa Ricans so content or vise versa!

An evening at the Baldi hot springs with multiple unique hot water springs, falls , pools and water slides and a nice elaborate dinner were a perfect end to this memorable day!

CANO NEGRO WILDLIFE RESERVE

A REPTILE FRIEND SIGHTED RELAXING!

IGUANA FAMILY HANGING OUT!

Where did the Arenal Volcano go?

Somewhere behind those dense clouds, fog and rain hides a majestic volcano, the famous "Arenal volcano" which is a sight that cannot be missed from anywhere in La Fortuna! Nonetheless, the beginning of the so-called "Dry season" is not quite dry after all! A walk through our hotel grounds in the morning made us appreciate how picturesque the gardens are. The breakfast was filling and the outdoor seating in a beautiful setting made it extra special! Besides, a good nights sleep had helped everyone recover from a day of travel!

We hit downtown La Fortuna, a 10 minute and $10 ride away to "hang out" and book our excursions for the next day or two. The former agenda was kind of hampered by the heavy downpour, the later was successful. After a laid back lunch at a newer bright restaurant, "Punta Fusion", we boarded the bus to go to the Arenal hanging bridges in the rain forest (completely true to its name today!). Hiking through a series of suspension bridges and trails through the dense rain forest with our guide, Pedro explaining the flora, fauna and wild life on our way was exciting for all of us. The kids had lost count of the bridges after about half a dozen of them! The highest bridge was 120ft above ground, however it didn't feel that high because of the extremely dense vegetation underneath. It was cool to view the canopies of the trees, the tree-tops of the tallest trees and even cooler to spot a mama sloth and a baby sloth climbing on a tree above us! While we missed the wild boars, some of our co-travelers had the pleasure of seeing them briefly. After a short drive back to our hotel, we made it just in time for the happy hour. Our "Pura Vida" cocktail failed to impress either me or Adya; we were happy nonetheless chatting and watching the kids have a blast by the pool! Dinner at a "soda" (generic name for a cafe style eatery in Costa Rica), 'Soda el Rio' was disappointing to the point that even the grown-ups decided to indulge in an ice cream for dessert!

VOLCANO LODGE AND GARDENS- BEAUTIFUL GARDENS INDEED!

THE TRIO LOVED THIS PLACE!

A LONG LUNCH AT THE "PUNTA-FUSION" RESTAURANT

'TOWEL-ART' - A NICE WELCOME AT THE ROOM EVERY EVENING

CROSSING THE HANGING BRIDGES

"BFFs" reunited!

Exactly after 6 long years, my best friend from dental college in Ahmedabad, Adya and I were going to get together on this trip. It would be our first time meeting each others boys and of course the first vacation that our families would enjoy together. We had until the evening to spend in San Jose till they arrived and we began our drive to La Fortuna. After a hearty "made-to-order" breakfast of multi-grain pancakes, eggs and fruits we were headed to the Volcano Poas and the La Paz Volcano Gardens with our driver, Julio in his spacious mini-van. The former was a disappointment though with the volcano hiding under the thick clouds and fog, a very common phenomenon apparently when you decide to take it easy in the morning and reach there at 10.30am! The hour long drive up there was stunning with dense and unique vegetation all around and herds of cows, at times blocking the narrow road! Next stop was the La Paz Waterfall gardens, a large privately owned property housing several birds, animals and butterflies that were rescued from harm. The grounds are very well-maintained and the place is very beautiful with an abundance of flora and fauna unique to this region including the "umbrella leaf" plants! The lunch buffet was appetizing and had enough tasty vegetarian options to satisfy our herbivorous family! We were able to burn off those lunch calories with all the walking through the gorgeous trails and exhibits. The highlights for me were the almost fake looking colorful Toucans and actual metamorphosis happening in front of our eyes in the butterfly exhibit! Where in the world would I expect to see the life cycle of a butterfly in real-time? "Butterflies being born" from their larvae to pupae stage, crawling out of their chrysalis! While waiting for the shuttle near the waterfalls, we had company with at least half a dozen animal friends who sat right next to us. Too bad, none of the people waiting there were able to confirm the name of this never-seen-before animals! Eventually, we found out they were "Pisotos".

After a fun-filled afternoon and a shut-eye on the drive back, we arrived at the hotel just in time to pick up our luggage and go to the airport with the Odyssey Tours driver to pick up Adya-Jay and Vihaan. The 2 and a half hour drive to La Fortuna went by fast with so much to catch-up and the kids gelled with each other instantly with reminders to keep the noise level down in the car! The heavy fog on narrow and windy roads made us all feel good about our decision to not rent a car and drive ourselves! Volcano Lodge and Gardens, our hotel in La Fortuna was quite impressive even though we couldn't appreciate the beauty completely in the rainy night! We charted out our next three days in the Arenal Volcano area tentatively over dinner at the on-site restaurant and parted for some Zzzzzzs after a long and exciting day before we could start another exciting day ahead!

BREAKFAST AT THE ADVENTURE INN

SENOR TOUCAN!

AT THE LA PAZ WATERFALL GARDENS

PISOTOS AT THE BUS STATION

METAMORPHOSIS IN ACTION- YES, THATS A BUTTERFLY BEING BORN!

Muy Verde!

The much awaited trip to the Central American paradise began with an uneventful TACA airline flight early in the morning, a short hour layover in San Salvador with an on-time arrival in San Jose. Customs and immigration were smooth and efficient and we were on our way in the Adventure Inn shuttle to our nearby hotel. Rush hour San Jose traffic lengthened the drive considerably, the surrounding vista instantly making me feel at home! I cannot pinpoint if it was the chaos on the road or the older buildings or just the vibe in the air, it felt like being in La India! The lush greenery everywhere was quite striking and with the volcanic peaks in the background made for some stunning views! After a quick check-in, we were off to eat dinner at the La Focaccia, an Italian restaurant 10 minute walk away. The "Al Fresco" dinner was delicious with Mediterranean pasta and fresh from the oven thin crust pizza. The stop at the "Nahua" chocolate place was well-worth it. The exotic chocolates are made right from the home-grown cocoa-beans and we had the pleasure of sampling and seeing them cut into slabs and being hand packaged individually! While at our very basic and modest looking hotel room, everyone crashed and instantly slept, I stayed up to do some more research on "things to do" and places to visit.
My only regret so far (and will be reinforced throughout the next week)- No Habla Espanol mucho! Entiende un poco! Note to self- Learn Spanish before the next trip to Latin-America!