Waking up, alongside the usual stress and chaos of ensuring I had everything, and that awkward, third and fourth emergency wee (why is it whenever you're going on a long journey you always need to go more than when you're just chilling at home?). I had a laugh about this with one of friends on the tour, so glad I'm not alone in this....
As I was up so early, I had the pleasure of being able to hear the many birds singing around the gardens that decorated the hotel. I was sad that I didn't have longer to sit and enjoy them, as it really was relaxing and there would have been many opportunities to try and photograph many beautiful birds (as other guests clearly were).
Sometimes I do think I pack too much into my trips, and whilst this was a booked tour, it did leave me to reflect more about future trips and opportunities just to relax and take in the nature and surroundings.
That said, I did end up having the opportunity to do this a lot whilst sitting on the bus because the scenery outside my windows, everywhere I looked continued to impress.
Our first journey would take us to catch the boat, before a lengthy trip which would see us leave the lowland rainforest, volcanic area of La Fortuna and climb into higher altitude to the tropical cloud forests of Monteverde. We would also see the temperature change quite significantly from what had been a pleasant, slightly humid climate to a much fresher temperature where we would definitely need hoodies to warm us up!
It was really fascinating watching the scenery changing as we drove.
We reached Monteverde by lunchtime, so had the opportunity to visit some of the local sites on offer. Myself and a new friend made on the tour went to visit the orchid gardens, which was home to a huge variety of different orchids and generally a stunning place to relax and wander around. We then went to the Frog Pond, which is home to 25 different species of native frogs and toads and again gave us a chance to spot different frogs, although some were a real challenge to see, especially as it was during the day. You're allowed to come back at night on the same ticket, so we decided we would do this the following day.
It was then time to leave for one of our included activities - a night time walk through the cloud forest. Definitely not for the faint hearted, especially as there was a breeze picking up! It did feel very horror-film-esque, especially as the first thing we saw was a scorpion.
The tour guide was again, brilliant. I felt safe throughout, but I had no idea really what to expect. I did think there were probably too many tour groups, although due to the narrowness of the paths, it was hard to work out whether it felt busier because it was dark, but I wonder if it did impact seeing some more wildlife. There was a sighting of an ocelot (I think), but I wasn't quick enough to catch it on camera.
We did, however, see a tarantula hole (so our spider must have been somewhere), and a very poisonous snake and a basilisk...
Sadly our scorpion had died by the time we made it out of the scary cloud forest, which weirdly we were all sad about.
Tomorrow I'm off to do something I've wanted to do for years. Ziplining! I cannot wait.
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