Monte Verde- Costa Rica

​Monte Verde is a town in the cloud forest mountain area of Costa Rica, north of San Jose. It is a tourist town, known for hiking, and adventure sports such as zip lining or canopying.
 
We had heard mixed reports about the area, from “touristy” to a “must see and very unique”. Since we had never been to the area before we thought we should take a look. For us, we enjoyed our time there, but we all felt the area was nothing particularly special.
 
For a mountain town focused on outdoor activities we were surprised to find only one camping option in the area, at La Colina lodge. The lodge itself is in somewhat of a transition but Nancy the owner did open up the camping to us.
 
Often when we get to an area and begin looking for camping options, it can look quite bleak, but with perseverance we usually land a great spot. This was no exception, as the camping area was a grassy field with a great vista over the surrounding mountains. It was also out of the chaos of the main town but within walking distance to many attractions.
It also had indoor areas, and a kitchen.
 
Although the days were warm and sunny, as soon as the sun began to fade it got cold very fast. It was a bit of a shock to be in colder weather again. We had to bring out our sleeping bags, fleeces, winter hats and ponchos again. 


FYI:  a lot of the photos here are taken by Murphy. One regret of ours that we didn't buy a new camera before the trip, ours has seen many prior adventures and is dying a slow death!

The view From Monte Verde area to the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific coast

campsite at La Colina

All bundled up

Nancy the owner is very sociable, enthusiastic and has a wealth of knowledge about the surrounding area. She was brilliant with Keira, providing Keira with clay, and mosaic tiles for a craft project and books to read.

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Completing a pottery craft actvity in the sun

watching the cows as they made their twice daily pilgrimage

And of course, like every place we have been there were cute dogs!

Mike, Riss, Keira and Murphy with Nancy the owner of La Colina lodge

​Highlights of our time in Monte Verde: hiking in the cloud forest where we saw glimpses of a Quetzal (a beautiful bird known to this area) and a sloth (a blob in the distance); visiting a butterfly house that also had a big collection of insects; visiting “the Bat Cave”, a educational centre about bats; eating chocolates from a local chocolate shop; getting to play with baby piglets; chatting with Nancy and other travelers, and of course spending time with Murphy. 


​HIKING IN THE CLOUD FOREST

Murphy and Mike chilling out

Keira eating lunch and resting, her favorite part of the hike

Riss and Murphy and the waterfall in the cloud forest

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​ FUNNY QUOTES OF THE TRIP:

“Yeti’s don’t poop.” – a quote from Keira during one of Mike and Keira’s early morning conversations in the tent.
 
“Put the Cat in the Bag!” – a quote from Murphy to Mike, which is probably better explained in person
 
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​VISITING THE BUTTERFLY/BUG HOUSE AND THE BAT CAVE:

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Keira was so excited to be able to hold different types of bugs and butterflies. She was literally jumping up and down with excitement during the bug tour, and was reciting facts about the bugs to the tour guide.

A blue Morpho butterfly, our favorite.

Leaf cutter ants

It was really hard to get photos of the bats in their bat cave. We learnt alot about bats and how important they are for the pollination of crops and to our existence. Keira is planning to build a bat house when we return to provide a refuge for bats.

PLAYING WITH PIGLETS:

Playing with the piglets at the farm was fun. Keira has now added a baby pig to her list of "wanted pets."

​So Monte Verde, a fun experience especially for Keira, but in our books, not a must see!
 

CHOCOLATES!!!!!!

                                  

                                                  AMUZING STORIES:


MURPHY: After Murphy’s first night camping in the tent in Costa Rica in close proximity to a 3 year old boy and his parents, Murphy explained that he was woken up by a very loud and realistic sounding dinosaur toy at 5 am. Only after us pointing out the primitive sounding howls of the howler monkeys, did Murphy actually realize his mistake.
 
RISSY: Ok, so there are definite advantages to traveling like we do, one is not having access to a mirror for huge chunks of time, namely not being worried about how you look. However one of the disadvantages of traveling like we do is not having access to a mirror for huge chunks of time, namely that photos don’t lie! A woman we met in Samara whilst Keira was absent asked me “Does Keira have blonde hair like you?”  I thought this was a little peculiar because I definitely have brown hair, but I mumbled something in reply. It was only 2 days later when Constance a lovely lady from Texas allowed us to use her room for a proper shower that I glimpsed myself in a real mirror and was shocked to see a very tanned face and blondish hair. The highlights I had got done in Colombia months before had bleached with the sun, and in fact I did look quite blonde!!!!
 


HIGHLIGHTS/CHALLENGES OF THIS AREA:
MOST VALUED POSSESION: sleeping bags/warm clothes; Murphy: Mikes winter coat
BEST EXPERIENCE: Mike- hanging out at Nancy's place; Keira- visiting the butterfly house and getting to see all the insects; Riss- getting to watch my daughter jump up and down unable to contain her excitement as she got to learn about insects and got to hold them. Murphy- Cloud forrest, butterflies, exotic birds, bats, goats, baby pigs, more birds, cows in the road/ Finding a beautiful place to camp at La Colina Lodge when we were just about ready to set up on the side of a road.
MOST CHALLENGING EXPERIENCE: Mike-the roosters!; Keira- again saying good-bye to the dogs and animals but also to Nancy, she was a lot of fun to hang out with; Riss- being cold and trying to sleep with the early rising roosters. Murphy- Pitching tent on the path used by locals to bring milk via horseback into town each morning/Damn rooster chorus at 4am, and ants in the tent!!!
BEST FOOD DISCOVERY: Mike-yummy raison and apple gooey filled bread from Stella's bakery, Keira- chocolate croissants from the bakery; Riss- chocolates, there is definitely a trend here!  Murphy- MIke’s cooking, spicey chocolates, and gnawing on a loaf of raisin bread from Stella’s Bakery
BEST CAMPING SPOT: La Colina Lodge (on ioverlander)