Buena Vista Lodge & Adventures in Monteverde
Our journey continued to Monteverde and Arenal. This Costa Rican trip involved lots of walking, hiking and bus transport and today would be no exception. Buena Vista Lodge & Adventures was an hour from our cabin. We planned to explore the Santa Elena cloud forest.
Our first activity was a Zip line canopy tour. We were impressed with the beautiful views. The outfitter was very professional and had proper safety protocol, gear, and a double cable. The ride was gloved. There was a person at the end to reel you in. If you broke too soon, you would have to pull yourself hand-over-hand to the end. One lady in our tour group had that happen.
After the excitement of the zip line, We walked across seventeen swaying bridges. All the while, two howler monkeys were getting very noisy and created a wonderful specticle. The cloud forest was filled with ficus trees. Costa Rica has eighty-five species of ficus trees, some over 300+ years old.
Next was a waterslide, horseback riding, a hike to a waterfall and the spa. The spa had a steam room, mud bath, and shower with hot & cold springs. A bumpy tractor ride brought us back to our car, exhausted but happy.
Guanacaste Day Celebrations All Week Long in Liberia
We stopped at a carnival rodeo on the way home for some rides and to observe the animals up close. After that we went to town square for dinner, where a couple hundred half-hazardly dancing horses entertained. This was part of the Guatecaste Day celebration week. Reflecting on the past few days activites, my wife said she appreciated the people and culture in Liberia more than the adventure park. We both agreed the adventure park was more for our girls than us, as it had too many tourists.
The next day we checked out from our Liberia accomodation, and Emanual took us to the bus station. On the bus, a young man named Alberto helped us negotiate the two bus transfers to our lodge, NW of Santa Elena.
Monteverde Revisited
Monteverde, was a stop some 25 years ago, while awaiting my Peace Corps assignment. Back then, the Arenal volcano was sputtering, it was the world’s most active volcano for 40 years. In 2010, it went dormant and fortunately for us, was still sleeping.
Packing Light is a Lost Art
Rick Steves, the guru of traveling light knows a thing or two about what he says. My daughters had a Rick Steves approved packing list and did their own packing. Somehow we still ended up with so much miscellaneous stuff in bags and backpacks, that we had some regrets we did not pack lighter.
The bus driver let us out and said, “it is only 500 meters to your cabins.” We pulled our luggage up a hill for 15 minutes and were wiped out. I was worried we might have destroyed our luggage wheels. Cabanas Capalin where we are staying has 2 bunk beds, and a double bed and bathroom with shared kitchen. The weather was cloudy, windy, and cool but very refreshing.
They have their own farm and 1.5 km walking path. Nancy and I walked it and saw noisy howler monkeys. We walked to town for dinner at Sabor Tico restaurant with typical Costa Rican food. The family buffet was good, but about double what we paid in Liberia, at $41 for our family of four, still a great value by American pricing. We stocked up with supplies and planned to cook dinner in the following day.
The transport bus picked us up early to take us to the cloud forest. The Santa Elena cloud forest preserve entrance fee was $16 per person, plus $4 transport per person. Hiking the 5.4 km Negro Cano trail and then the 3.5km Encantada trail, we were fortunate it was a beautiful, cool day. Surprised to see everything covered in moss, we only saw a couple of yellow banded minions, a family of chickadees and heard lots of other birds, but could not see them.
We took the bus into Monteverde and booked a night walking tour for the next day. Checking out the town, our girls found a second hand shop with affordable trinkets to bring home for friends. We made dinner back at the cabin and compared our travel experiences with a Barcelona family we met in Monteverde.
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