Monteverde Part II: "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?"

So…yeah. Horse took off with Lia. Blah, blah, blah. : )

Harkening back to an earlier post about how we are going to try to not to write a "Lego Blog" --- I’ll admit that in the immediate aftermath, our tolerance for any complaining about the change in plans for the trip was pretty short (ok…it was nonexistent, and we had a couple of “memorably intense” parent-kid moments that afternoon) but I think we all did a pretty good job of shifting gears and focusing back on the positives (exploring a bit, having some fun, etc.). A few memories and highlights…

The Drive To Monteverde...

No recap of the non-equine-related parts of the trip would be complete without first stepping back to talk about our drive TO Monteverde. The road up the mountain is a gutted, bumpy, dirt road. Has been since the town was set up in the 1950’s. HOWEVER, they are FINALLY in the process of paving it (a shock…I lived up there for a month in 1995 and Audrey and I visited in 1999 and nobody ever thought they would bother to pave it). Unfortunately, It isn’t just a matter of slapping down some asphalt. It’s a massive project because it involves carving a wider road out of the mountain, stabilizing the carve out vs. landslides, and then paving. In the meantime, areas along the side of the road are more prone to erosion and issues like the one we encountered on our way to Monteverde…

Yup. Big tree. Middle of the road. Pouring rain. Had to wait for the volunteer fire department guys to show up with a chainsaw so they could clear the tree from the telephone wires before the backhoe could actually move it out of the way. A nice “rural mountain life” start to the weekend. : )

Our Hotel (The Belmar)...

Audrey and I stayed at the Belmar on our honeymoon back in 1999 (for those of you paying attention, this is the second time we visited a hotel from our 1999 trip) and we couldn’t have been happier with the choice. The Belmar isn’t some sort of crazy resort. No pools and water slides. No game room. No TV’s. It is just a super-cozy, beautiful boutique hotel with an awesome mountain-chill vibe. The kids loved sitting on the deck and having lunch as a cloud literally rolled into the restaurant itself. The staff was amazing (there were only a few people working b/c it is offseason right now…so we got to know them well) and incredibly helpful after Liadan’s accident. We would go back in a heartbeat. 12 thumbs up from the 6 members of the Gavin family.

Out on the balcony at the Belmar restaurant...

Kid pic of the bar/restaurant area at the Belmar.

Ziplining...

On Saturday we want ziplining with “The Original Canopy Tours” company (first in Costa Rica and one of the first anywhere, I think). Less Disney-like than some of the bigger places but a great choice with the kids. Guides were awesome. Tour was great. Etc.

Audrey and Liadan on the way to the Tarzan Swing...

A big family of Coatis ran by on the path up ahead...

To be honest, I was shocked and impressed (“shimpressed?”) with the kids. I HATED heights when I was a kid. Hated ‘em. No bribe would have been big enough to get me to do this. Yet someone like Jack (who hates heights) climbed up a steep platform and leaped off by himself to do the “Tarzan Swing” (!?!) and then plugged away through the entire tour.

Jackie in mid flight on the Tarzan Swing...

Charlie and Ella were into the whole thing (Tarzan Swing, zip-lining, etc.). Liadan didn't want to take on the Tarzan Swing but she loved riding along with one of the guides on the zip lines themselves. I’ll let the pictures speak for most of it. ...

Ella about to take off on the Tarzan swing

Good Luck Charlie! (that's a Disney show reference, btw...)

Waiting on one of the platforms. Quite smiley considering they are 100+ feet up!

About to enter the strangler-fig (to CLIMB up to the top...!)

But I did also want to include a link to a video clip on YouTube. Grandpa Duncan gave us a GoPro before we left and it was put to good use on this particular day. First couple of minutes includes some short clips of Tarzan Swing, zip lining, etc. But the last half is the best part — Charlie narrating our climb up the inside of a strangler-fig-tree (and the last part of the climb up a rope ladder on the outside of the tree). Enjoy… : )

Link to YouTube — http://youtu.be/erzScgC50pM

Bug Garden, Herpetarium, Short Hike in the Monteverde Reserve, etc…

I already mentioned that our grand plans for hiking were a bit thrown off by Liadan’s accident, the resulting trip to the doctor, etc. We DID make the best of the situation by fitting in some shorter visits to some of the attractions in town. What we learned…

— Even Audrey CAN find bugs interesting (she went with Jack to the bug museum and found herself surprisingly interested and entertained by the giant bugs, etc.)

Audrey and Jack after their trip to check out the bugs

— Jack and Charlie could hang out looking at snakes for hours…Ella is done in about 3 minutes (while Audrey took a turn with Liadan, I took the older three to the herpatarium. Not a big place. Ella was done in five minutes. I had to DRAG the boys out of there after an HOUR…and even then they only left because they were finally able to watch “feeding time” with live mice who didn’t stand much of a chance against the snakes…

Don't think the mouse is going to stand much of a chance...

— The kids LOVED the Monteverde Reserve. It’s a bummer that our planned half-day hike turned into an hour long mini-visit the morning of our departure BUT that did allow Liadan to join us (carried most of the way). They DID get a bit of a taste for cloud forest hiking. Etc.

Found this guy hanging near the hummingbird feeders.

A Return Trip Sometime This Year…?

Putting aside the horseback riding drama, it was a fantastic three day weekend that the kids are still talking about. We have a lot of places on our list for the year but if we can fit in a return to Monteverde at some point, we most definitely will. This time around we’ll focus on the hiking that we missed and we’ll probably skip the horses…

If we could add thought bubbles they would say "Phew...we arrived with six on Friday and we're leaving with six on Monday"...!