Costa Rica: Monte Verde

Jessica and I left our tropical paradise in a van that drove us and about six other passengers along the coastline and then turned off to go way, way up in the mountains to Monte Verde. We drove way too fast on a windy, dirt road up the mountain. It was terrifying! There was definitely not enough room for two cars to pass by each other, but they did. We were bouncing around in pot holes on the edge of a cliff. We were both so scared. I just knew I was going to die in Costa Rica. And leave my poor kids and husband to go on without me.

Miraculously, we made it to the small town at the top of the mountain. We checked into The Rustic Lodge and talked with the two cute men running the place for awhile. They signed us up for all kinds of tours and adventures while we stayed there. The first one began immediately. We put on some boots, a van came and picked us up in the pitch black dark and drove us out to a wildlife refuge for a night tour. We saw lots of things in the dark. Birds, snakes, sloths, etc. Pretty cool to go climbing through the jungle in the middle of the night.

 The next morning it all started again bright and early after a delightful breakfast at the hotel. We went out to another Wildlife Reserve and walked around for a good 4 to 5 hours looking at all the animals our guide spotted. The man could hear any noise through the forest and tell you what animal it was and then pick it out to show you through all the dense trees and foliage. He was incredible.

We were mostly chasing down a sighting of the Queztal bird. They are fairly rare to find or see. Imagine everyone's delight when we got this awesome view through the telescope. It was a beautiful bird to see. 

Jungle trees.

Here we watched a troop of spider monkeys make their way across the tops of these trees. We even saw mamas carrying baby monkeys on their backs.  

We made it to the look out of the divide separating the carribean side and the pacific side.

After all the fun in the forest and seeing every single bird, animal and insect there was there (except the Touchan), we headed out on our next excursion. The one I had been looking forward to the very most. I was so excited to go ZIPLINING!! Ziplining through the jungle forest was my dream coming true on this trip. Jessica is scared of heights. She was quite nervous, but still wanted to do it. And really, was so nice to go along with it all for me. 

We got helmets on, got all strapped in and buckled up. Then went zooming across the top of the rainforest on 13 different ziplines from platform to platform.  It was AWESOME!





 Jessica was terrified going up to the first platform and any time she looked down, but soon was handling things quite calmly. Until the superman flying came along.



We became besties with the guides. 

This is actually my favorite picture of the day. Isn't that amazing. I mean she is a true professional zip liner. And look at what she is flying out over. Incredible!

We also got to choose to jump off of the Tarzan Swing at the end. I walked up on this tall platform and held on to the rope just when all the people from our group below started singing "Happy Birthday". Jessica led the choir and when they finished, I jumped and swung like Tarzan through the jungle. So much fun.

After such a thrilling day, we decided to wind things down a bit with a very nice and relaxing dinner. We went to a restaurant in town that our guys at the hotel recommended. It was delicious. We got our Pina Coladas and the most tender steaks. They produce the cocoa bean in Monte Verde, so my steak was drizzled in chocolate. It really was delicious! The power went out, so we got to have a romantic birthday dinner by candle light. 

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful, clear, sunny day. It was my birthday!! We had scheduled to go on a chocolate tour, but when I saw what a nice day it was, I just had to go zip lining again. Jessica was the nicest sister in the world to support that idea and go along with it. We will go back for that chocolate tour when we are 80. 

A van picked us up again and we went to a different company's ziplining tour because they had "The Superman". Jessica and I did the same type of ziplining as the day before, from platform to platform. We even got to help others along because we were so experienced by now. He he. 

The very best part of this day was definitely "The Superman". I do have pictures, but they are far too embarrassing to be posted to the general public. I do also have a video of me screaming the whole way through. They hoisted us up. Attached the cable to our backs and then sent us flying with arms outstretched like Superman. It was so very cool. I totally loved every minute of it.

We ended this day with another jump from a platform. This time it was much, much higher. 150 feet. I was scared to death, but as soon as I reached the end of the platform, they just opened the gate and kind of pushed me out. Everyone else screamed on their way down. I didn't make a noise because my heart and stomach were in my throat. I was glad when it was over.

Jessica and I went back into town to grab some lunch and then loaded our backpacks on a bus and left Monte Verde down that treacherous mountain road back to San Jose.

We spent the night in a Courtyard Marriott right by the airport and said our good byes at about 3am when I had to leave Jessica for my flight back home. After flying to Denver and then into the SLC airport, I could hardly wait to see Scott and the kids. I was so excited. I came down the escalator stairs to find the kids holding balloons and a sign. Scott holding red roses! It was so sweet! I was so happy to be home with them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Jessica for one of the most fun and exciting trips of my life. And a big thank you to Scott for taking care of everything at home for me to have this chance. What a good dad and husband. I am so grateful!