The night before we had decided it was time to make plans for our final full day in Monteverde (tear). We were deciding on Canyoning (which is quite different than canyoning in Europe) or zip-lining. After perusing the reviews on the interweb, we made the plunge to make reservations at La Selvatura which offered zip-lines, butterfly garden, crazy insect collection, amongst other things. I was afraid it was going to be a tourist trap but the reviews loved it so we went for it.
In the same session, we also had to figure out how we were getting back to San Jose. First option could be the local bus which we had been taking all week. However, the first one left at 6:30AM (ugh) and the second one not until 2:00PM meaning we probably wouldn't get to our hotel until close to 7:00PM and being that we had an early flight, neither of those sounded very appealing. Plus we'd miss our last breakfast with Esteban! Tragedy. So we decided to splurge and take a Grey Line shuttle bus (aka, gringo bus) for $35 each but we could leave at 9:15am. Yes, please! Totally worth it in my book. Plus, it turned out they could pick us up at our door AND drop us off at the hotel. Now that's service!
We had signed up for a relatively early tour at Selvatura so they picked us up at 8:00a. There were a whole lot of other people going too so we made all these semi-awkward stops before they drove us a little bit outside of Santa Elena to this compound. There was a huge, super modern welcome center where we paid for our zipline (decided to skip all the other attractions) and got all of our gear set up.
Needless to say, this zip-line tour was very different than the one in Manuel Antonio and felt more like an amusement park. Think: the Disneyland of ziplining. The employees were relatively indifferent, clip in, clip out, give you a push, goodbye! But the runs were much longer and we were above the canopy so that was pretty awesome.
It was hard to get photos because they were constantly pushing us through and they even separated Boo and I at one point for a long time! We think they thought I was with the Korean guys in front of us :-P
This tour also had a "Tarzan" swing! Basically they clipped you into this rope and pushed you off this platform. Then two guys on the ground would roughly stop you. I'm not sure how they haven't been sued yet. It was fun though!
Another Dr. Seuss tree
The last zipline was 1KM! They let us go tandem and as they let us go, we were just in the clouds. You literally couldn't see anything except right in front of your face. A supreme cool experience.
We managed to get back on the 11:00am transport back to downtown Santa Elena where we needed to pick up a few supplies. I couldn't believe it was only 11am but it was nice to have full days. Boo picked up a few tshirts and we later found out we also should have picked up souvenirs here but we were silly so we didn't. We hit up the grocery store where we picked up my new favorite chips: Tronaditas Corn Chips (limon y sal). I must find these in the States! And of course we were starving so we decided to finally try what we had been seeing all over CR: fried chicken! El Super Pollo to be exact.
They included tortillas with the chicken, I was amused. And grateful.
Mmm... Coke in a bottle
After we got back, we took a short rest before heading over to the San Luis Waterfall which had been told by Esteban to be the best thing to see around Monteverde (aside from the Quaker Cheese Factory... ha... haa.. ha). Apparently it's a waterfall located on private property of this family who have had it for generations. They charge $8/person and there is a long hike to get to a 300ft. waterfall. The only thing that had been deterring us from going was the fact it was 7KM away (5 mi) and it sounded somewhat strenuous. But we figured it sounded pretty cool so we sucked it up and headed out.
I wanted to pet this foal but its mom was standing right next to it and I was afraid she'd try to attack me
Pretty soon we came to asphalt road that was steep, steep, and more steep. Towards the end of it, we found a platform with a view. There was a Tico family hanging out with one guy on guitar with the whole family singing along. It was pretty darn cute. One of the other guys was telling us how we should go see the waterfall because it's beautiful and he pointed at this tiny little speck.
Can you see it?
Are we in Switzerland or something?
That hairy thing is a sloth
Another elusive bird
I thought she was pretty
When we were about 500 meters away, an old school Toyota Land Cruiser pulled up next to us. The couple inside were American and they asked if were going to the Waterfall. When we said that we were, they asked if we wanted a ride. How nice! Their names were Andy and Melanie and they were from Albuquerque but Melanie's parents had a house in Monteverde so she'd been visiting since she was young. We asked if it was cool if tagged along with them and they were so nice.
Once we parked, we paid the entrance fee (literally, this was a family home) and began our hike.
It felt like we were transported to another world
Pretty soon we came to our first hint of a waterfall somewhere down the line. We also got to walk in the water since that's what the trail required.
There were a lot of handmade, rickety bridges that added to the charm
During the hike, Melanie was able to give us some background about some of the plants and the waterfall. It was really cool to get the lowdown from whomeone who knew. There were these super cool ferns that closed up when you touched them. After about 45 minutes, we were finally about to enter the waterfall
The water was super clear
Andy and Melanie
No, this is not the main waterfall
Here it is!
It's cold. I opted to stay dry and warm.
After the kids dried off, we started to head back as the sun was going down soon
These used to belong to a beetle
Back to the beginning
The truck Andy and Melanie picked us up in
The end to an awesome day
This sits at the entrance to the trail
It was too dark to take a photo but on our way back we stopped at a spot Boo had seen a guide stop earlier in the day. We managed to see a two-toed sloth pretty clearly as he was sitting on a low branch. Super cool. Melanie's parents lived in a house on the gravel road prior to the steep asphalt road so they offered to give us a ride back. Otherwise we would have had to call a taxi and it was so very nice of them to offer. They drove us all the way back to the entrance of the Mariposa where we swapped info and thanked them for such a fun adventure. Always love making new friends in faraway places.
That evening we finally dined across the way at the Hotel Fonda Vela. The food was decent and it was a nice way to end our time in Monteverde.
End, Day 6!
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