Tonight is our last night in Costa Rica, in the cool forests of Monteverde - first time we've needed blankets to sleep! A beautiful drive to get here, stopping in the village of Garza to touch the Pacific one last time, then the city of Nicoya to get money and watch the action in the town square at lunch, especially the teens in their school ubi forms, hanging out much like their Canadian peers. The drive from Las Juntas up to Monteverde climbs about 6000 feet through steep-sloped farmland and forest, shades of Greece, California and other hot mountainous beautiful places. The road, as advertised, was dusty, stony , rutted and bad, except where it was terrible. But once again, the destination proved worth it. Monteverde was setteled by American Quakers in 1950, escaping persecution for their pacifism, and they carved out farms at high altitude, building a successful cheese industry. Today it's all ecotourists, coming to enjoy the rich diversity of life in the cloud forests. Trade winds from the Caribbean guarantee fog and rain on windward slopes almost daily, so it's moist, temperate and very lush. We hiked to the continental divide this morning, bathed in greenery, spotting odd birds such as the orange-banded trogon and the emerald toucan. Then we got techno and did a 15 segment zipline, longest span a whole kilometer - a blast, and a unique perspective on the canopy whizzing by! I also did a Tarzan swing - me who turns green on swings in the park...
So that's it from Costa Rica, although I hope to get back to write about the amazing SEED project I mentioned in Cahuita. Love from Jen and me, and stay tuned for Africa in about 10 days!
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