Inflorescence of the Costa Rican bamboo palm (Chamaedorea costaricana).
The 21st started with another pre-breakfast walk, this time down to the local waterfall. Only Sean joined us for this walk.
Being a tropical rainforest, it rained.
Heavily.
Leaving our packs in the room, wearing my rain jacket and juggling an umbrella and walking stick, we made our way through the dim forest. On our way we spotted a family of great curassow, which are the size of turkeys. After watching them until they disappeared into the understory, we descended the steep trail to the base of the falls.
After breakfast, we packed up our bags and headed to Monteverde. Before we left the Arenal area, we went on a walk through an area destroyed by the 1968 eruption. In this area, it was mostly grassland (pastures) with occasional trees up to edge of the flow where the rainforest resumed. We hiked up the trail and captured some vistas of the area before we returned through the sloppy wet grass to the bus.
Driving to the main road, we drove a short distance to the Lake Arenal Dam that creates the lake. The lake is used to generate hydroelectric power for the country. Interestingly, most of the water comes from the Caribbean watershed, but the discharge for the hydroelectric plant is to the Pacific coast. This is because the Pacific is lower than the Caribbean, and thus generates more power. Leo noted that Nicaragua has complained that this redirection of water has altered the flow in the San Juan river which drains into the Caribbean.
At the dam, we boarded a boat (a water taxi?) that took us across the lake to the town of Rio Chiquito, where two land taxis awaited us to carry us to Monteverde, while Sergio drove the bus around the lake (the roads are a bit iffy, and this shortcut saves time). The taxis were four wheel drive and needed it as the dirt roads (which aren’t on my map) were rough, muddy, and steep. The roads twisted and turned their way up the steep slopes past the verdant open hillsides that are used as cattle pastures. The rain that fell was joined by mists and vapors as we made our way up and across the continental divide to the Pacific watershed. The road ran along a ridge that fell away on both sides into the misty haze below. As we got closer to Monteverde the rain lessened and the mists lifted, and by the time we got to our lunch destination, De Lucio, the rain had almost stopped.
Inflorescence of the Costa Rican bamboo palm (Chamaedorea costaricana).
The water fall at the Observatory.
Map of the grounds of the Observatory.
Parrot Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum).
Maranda.
A sample of the tire art made by Rosa's son - turtles in the pool.
Cecropia tree silhouetted against the misty sky.
Arenal with its head in the clouds.
The edge of a volcanic flow, with the rain forest resuming beyond.
Pausing for a moment on the trail.
A day orchid (Sobralia sp.).
A white variety of day orchid.
More kohleria.
A nice little grouping of ferns in the middle of the trail.
A day orchid, bedewed (Sobralia sp.).
White indigo berry (Randia aculeata).
Bayberry (Myrica sp.).
Heading back down the trail.
Catching the boat to the other side of the lake.
A green iguana (Iguana iguana) in a branch over the lake.
A shot showing the mists and rain on the lake.
Another misty shot.
Our destination, with the two 4WD taxis waiting for us.
After another Country Eaters lunch, we walked from the restaurant down the road to the Santuario Ecologio de Monteverde. On our way we encountered a light brown powder on the road and enquired teasingly to Leo, what was this most unusual substance? (It was the first dry dirt we had seen on the tour.)
The walk through the Sanctuary featured a large leafcutter ant colony. On the trail to the edge of the Sanctuary, we encountered ants of a different kind – army ants. We made a quick dash through them, but some folks still got ants up their legs and were bitten as a result. I was lucky (although it could’ve been the insect repellent that’s embedded in my hiking pants) and didn’t get bitten, although I did knock one ant off my boot after we traversed the affected section of trail. The Sanctuary sits at the edge of the Monteverde highlands and there were a number of overlooks where you could see the Pacific. On the trial back up to the reception area, although twilight was fast approaching, Leo spotted an agouti down a crossing trail where it had a banana in its mouth. At the reception area, Sergio was waiting with the bus and took us to our hotel, El Establo Mountain Hotel.
Need to get an ID on this.
Bromelaid.
A huge ant hill, about 10 ft across, of leaf cutter ants.
More epiphytes.
A huge ficus makes a great climbing tree.
Gaudichaudia hexandra.
More mimosa - a legume.
A view out from the first overlook.
A zoomed shot.
Vegetation on the hillside - doesn't it look like a close-up of a head of broccoli?
Unidentifed flower.
A view from the second overlook - samples of the living fences on the slopes in the fore ground.
A shot fo the vegetation from below.
Life among the roots.
A shot from the hotel balcony.
Looking uphill, there were more lodgings that are part of this establishment.
More towel (and bathmat) origami.
Now the toilet paper gets into the act.
The facecloths.
Dinner at Tramonti - Sean, Lin, Leo, Sergio, Neal, and Judy.
Dinner at Tramonti - Joan, Sean, Lin, Leo, me, and Jonathan - Sergio took this shot for me.
After catching up with the journal, we went to meet up with the group to head out to dinner at an Italian restaurant, Tramonti. The dinner, as usual, was superb – I had caprese followed by lasagna with meat and mushrooms. At our suggestion, Leo ordered a bottle (a magnum actually) of red wine for the table rather than ordering by the glass. A wonderfully convivial dinner.
It’s unusual that in a town with only a few paved roads, you can find some really, really nice restaurants.