Costa Rica - Monte Verde

Costa Rica - Monte Verde

Last border crossing!  We took the ferry from omepete back to the Nicaraguan mainland, drove for an hour to the border. You have to show proof of leaving Costa Rica - I just showed my flight. People leaving overland had a lot of trouble. We got held up for awhile before we all got through.  We had another 5 hour drive to our hotel. We stopped for lunch and Martina and I got mc Donald's. We stopped at a lookout point and people got hot chocolate and coffee. We finally made it to out hotel Historias in Monteverde.  I got put in the "honeymoon" room. There wasn't much special about it except for it was far away from everyone else.  It had a tub but so did other people and it had kind of luke warm water so that was a plus. 

In the morning I walked down to the bakery and met James and Daniel for breakfast. We may or may not have each had a slice of carrot cake. 😃

I went walking through the Monteverde cloud forest with Marilyn, Ryan, James, and Clara while the others went zip lining.

James and Ryan

humming bird

Later I went on the hanging bridges with Clara and Marilyn. They were pretty cool.  During both walks, the forest was calm and peaceful. We didn't see many animals except a centipede, squirrel, and coatis. And we saw the humming birds at the hummingbird gallery.

Marilyn and Clara

I messaged my sister today to tell her that I hiked in a cloud forest today. Her reply was "Natalie shit her pants today - we live very different lives" hahaha!  Yes we do! I am so blessed that I have a job I love and that I get to travel. 

The others went out drinking and dancing at 10. I go to bed before that because otherwise my lupus gives way to neurological symptoms. They are actually really understanding of the fact that I don't drink and that I turn into a pumpkin at 9:30. It is surprising how many adults make rude comments about me not drinking or that I'm pathetic for going to bed so early. I need to do it though or my body won't function! It is cooler here so I sleep better. It was really windy last night- sounded like a blizzard back home so I woke up a few times, but was cosy in my honeymoon cabin. I was feeling pretty great today and they were all looking pretty rough this morning. I've read about how fast the clouds move here and I got to see it first hand today- they just sail by. 

I went with Tim, Tom, Diane, and Melanie on a coffee, chocolate, and sugar cane tour. Really fascinating. The farm itself was beautiful.

baby pineapple

We ate a coffee  bean off the bush. Doesn't taste at all like coffee.

We saw sugar cane growing, how they Peres the juice out, then boil it. They can make white sugar, brown sugar, and molasses out of it.  We got to stir some to thicken it into a suave blob. It was hot and gooey and frankly looked like poo when the guy picked it up in a plastic bag (just like you would dog poo on the street). I held onto the bag and gave the others an update every few minutes about how hot it was, it was getting hard, and how poop like it looked. 

Sugar cane stalks

sugar cane juice

sugar cane cast offs 

sugar cane boiling

stirring the boiled sugar cane

stirred sugar cane solidifying

sugar cane in a "poop bag" 

molds they use for the sugar

Chocolate

cocao beans

cocao beans drying 

starting to taste like chocolate

grinding up the beans

We had a bakery in Mumbai called Theobroma.  It means food of the gods

We have spent a lot of time on vans and boats on this trip and these are our very happy faces for our LAST boat ride!!!  and it was actually a decent boat.

Dan and I - last boat ride