Beginning by taxi van, we were transported to the Santa Elena preserve uphill from Monteverde and right along the Continental Divide. From there, our long, and I mean long, hike began. Fortunately it was almost all downhill from there. After about 30 minutes we arrived at the San Gerardo station, on the Atlantic slope, for a mid morning coffee break. Since I don’t drink much coffee, I went for a quick jog around the shortest trail look. I wanted to give my toe-ed shoes one last run-around on these beautiful trails before the final descent.
We met a couple of park rangers who then helped us to navigate the rest of the way down. And by rest of the way down I mean another 5-6 hour hike. The first couple hours of this were exciting primarily because of the steep declines that our feet had to navigate. More than once I can remember slipping and catching myself with my hands behind me.
On the way down, the lead guide pointed out a unique track, that we quickly determined to have been imprinted that morning by a Puma or mountain lion as we call them in the states. Then, not too far down the trail, we ran into another unique scene. The picture is below…
What seems to have happened, less than a couple of hours before our passing, is this. Sloths like to, for some reason or another, make their way to the bottom of their favorite tree to defecate. Unfortunately, for this little guy, from whom you can only see the fur of now, a Puma wandered along, and brought its appetite. What a crazy circle of life… can’t a sloth just go to the bathroom in peace? This was pretty cool to find though, and not something that you get to see every day in the rainforest.
Then it was time for a quick dip… which led to another quick dip, and other and another, finally tallying as five total river crossings, not including quite a few small creeks and muddy puddles. Oh what fun… and quite refreshing on a warm tropical day.
Finally after the long haul, we entered into a pasture, almost as if we were in the film Jurassic Park.
I am sure if we waited long enough, either a brachiosaur or tyrannosaurus rex would have popped over the next hill.
The about picture is one some pretty sweet Oreopendula woven nest colony. The birds are related to the Oriels in the states.
At the bottom of our descent, we finally reached Lake Arenal, hopped into a pontoon boat, and crossed to meet up with our mini bus on the other side. Volcano Arenal was off to the South, and was unexpectedly clear of most clouds. That is a rare sight to see.
That evening we stayed at a hot springs resort at the base of the Arenal Volcano. These springs were just what the doctor ordered for all our sore feet and muscles, after a day hike like that. No homework, not tests, just family, laughter and relaxation. Maybe a few water slides as well.
The next morning I woke up early to hike up the hillside and catch a few pictures of the volcano while it was still clear of clouds. While there, I occasionally heard a rumble, which I soon figured out to be large boulders bounding down the steep slopes of Arenal. I am pretty sure I saw a car sized one roll down and crash into the woodlands at the bottom. But no worries, I was a very safe distance away.
As always we didn’t want to leave. But we did slowly load the bus and head toward San Jose.
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