We've been here before. The cabina is small, made from wood - a Costa Rican version of a log cabin - secluded on a hillside overlooking a big valley. It's a short walk to the pool and sauna. By day it's always around 30C but the temperature drops at night and the winds pick up, often howling as they blow through the valley. Surrounded by high grass, ferns and jungle it's kind of like little house in Jurassic Park.
Dinner first night was improvised from a Julia Child's recipe, cooked on the two burner propane stove and washed down with a cheap but kinda good Chilean carmenere. All the food here is fresh and local. Unlike the Caribbean where everything is flown in. That's one of the reasons we gave up on the islands. We were spending a fortune on food. Better here.
Next morning dawned fresh and sunny. The temperature was rising fast. After breakfast we walked up the path to visit Javier and his family. Javier built the cabin we are staying in as well as several others on his families property. He is a young guy whose parents were German and immigrated to Costa Rica when he was a young child. He grew up here except when he was a teenager his parents sent him off the Alberta to go to school. He returned in his late teens, married a Tico (slang for Costa Rican) and they have two children, one of which is the aforementioned Dylan.
There a lots of things to do here in Monteverde. Zip lining, bungee jumping, horseback riding to waterfalls or hot springs and hikes in the canopy across hanging bridges or in the cloud forest are some of the most popular. We decided to go for a hike and chose the hanging bridges. If you're not familiar with hanging bridges they are basically like a sidewalk suspended hundreds of feet above the forest floor that connect two mountains - you walk across the valley between them. Neat thing is that they have to be both strong and designed to handle the winds - high winds. So they are as open as they can be to allow the wind to pass through. You can see right through the floor as you traverse from mountain to mountain. As you cross them the winds make them sway as well. Even if you don't have fear of heights which I don't you can't help getting a bit dizzy on occasion, looking down as the wind sways the bridge while your walking across. We crossed eight bridges of various lengths and altitudes above the forest floor along the trek. It was a beautiful experience, with the bright sunshine and good winds to make the crossings a little more exhilarating. We saw few people along the way although we did meet a traveller from Greece who was kind enough to snap a few pictures of us on the bridge.
A few hours later, back in Santa Elena, we stopped for lunch at a street food place called Taco Taco and had, you guessed it, tacos. Michael Carmichael eat your heart out. You wish your fish tacos tasted as good as these. Crispy fried melt in your mouth white fish in a warm corn tortilla with white cabbage and a jalapeño ranch sauce with just the right touch of sweet and spicy. Same for the chicken tacos. Washed down by a couple of cervesa's. The perfect lunch.
Siesta time. On the porch sitting in the rockers watching the clouds break up as they come into contact with the hills. Sun setting. Day is done. Welcome to our happy place. Costa Rica.
