Monteverde is high up in the mountains on the other side of Lake Arenal from Arenal volcano. The only way in and the only way out is a dirt road. A really, not so comfortable, dirt road. I've never been because I just didn't think Sally May (the Hyundai) could take it. So, it's always been the just out of my reach vacation destination. But, nothing makes you do the things you've been putting off more than company! So, a few weeks ago when my colleagues were in town for a team meeting, my friend Daniella borrowed the 4x4 we needed for the roads and we took off to Monteverde...for a little less than 24 hours!
It is hard to get there. Not only do the dirt roads slow you down considerably, but so does getting lost. And getting lost is probably the easiest part of the journey since most places in Costa Rica don't believe in signs for some reason. So we, like every other tourist that has never been there before, took about an hour and a half detour down the wrong dirt road. That was fun...
The area known as Monteverde is actually a couple of small towns outside of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. In the 1950's a group of Quakers and general pacifists from Alabama moved to the area to sustain themselves on dairy farming and get away from the Korean draft in the US. Even though the area is one of the big tourist attractions in the country, the Quakers and other locals have fought the paving of the roads into Monteverde in order to make it harder to reach and keep the tourism numbers low. However, as of last week, it looks like they have finally lost the battle. The roads to Monteverde are to be paved in the coming year(s). It is a beautiful area and town, so hopefully it can maintain some of it's mysterious charm, even with easier access to outsiders.
The big draw is the Cloud Forest Preserve, and the big "thing to do" is walk through the preserve on hanging bridges. And by hanging, I mean bafflingly long metal bridges that seem to just be suspended in the air. My brain can't even begin to figure out the engineering that went into these things. They are a marvel, and a little scary! My theory on things like high suspended bridges and zip lines in Costa Rica is that they are always going to be super safe - killing a tourist does not bring in the revenue quite as well as keeping them safe and happy, right?
I should be ashamed of myself. Scratch that. I am ashamed of myself. I left my good camera at home for this trip (on accident.) So, I apologize in the advance for the quality of my photos...taken with my phone...
Until the next adventure,
Amber
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