We took a boat from Tabacon across the brilliant Lake Arenal, and a transfer picked us up on the other side and
took us to the Monteverde reagion. Monteverde is a town in the high mountains that (we were told) was originally settled by quakers from
the US. There are NO paved roads in this town, and in fact, no paved roads within a 20Km radius of the town. And thats the way people
like it (keeps the flood of poeple from ruining their town). To get there, we skimmed along mountain sides on narrow, bumpy roads. We found ourselves sitting near the middle of the car
because it felt like we were going to go over the edge.
Had we skipped the boatride to get there, it would have taken us about 6 hours rather than 3. Upon our arrival
it was sunny, and fairly calm. We'd read that this place (near the continental divide) was known for it's constant cloud cover, rain, and wind.
Our next day we found out that our arrival had been a fluke. We woke up thinking there was a downpour outside, when in fact, it was just the
mist collecting on the tree branches and falling onto the metal roof of our cottage.
If you like the Discovery Channel/National Geographic, or Animal Planet, you'd really enjoy Monteverde.
It's a quaint little place, but pretty dirty from all the wind, mist, mud and dust. The people there
were very nice though. We visited a butterly garden and learned all about leaf cutter ants. We saw brilliant rainbows everywhere
from the constant clouds and mist in the high mountain town. Monteverde is also famous for its cheese factory (where I posed in front of the
Monteverde sign), and its surrounding national parks, and rain forests.
It was a unique experience that we wouldn't trade for the world.
