Swinging above a cloud forest - Costa Rica Day4

The previous post on this series is here..

On Day 4, we said bye to Arenal Paraiso and were on our way to Montaverde cloud forest. We were told that if we go by car around the lake (they had built a dam on the river outside Arenal for hydro power and it is quite a large lake) it would take us 6 to 7 hours, so it was better to take a car to the edge of the lake on Arenal side, go by boat to the other side and then get a ride on a Van up into the mountains.

That took us 3 1/2 hours with all the loading and unloading. 

When we got on the boat it was nice. No crowd. When we were dropped off on the Montaverde side, there were 20 vans waiting and it was a rush for those people to get into the boat. They did not even give us room to get our luggage out of the boat. Given the rain and slush, our suitcases got a lot of mud as did we, in the process of getting out and finding our waiting van. 

The boat was not part of Desafio (maybe they should start some boat service too..). The boats were also in bad shape. As soon as we sat down, the chair in front of me came and hit me in my leg. It narrowly missed my knee. "You can mess with the gods, but you cannot mess with your knees!" is what my yoga teachers tell me all the time... this was a close call. The boat operator apologized and said "sorry, this has been broken for some time. please let my boss know! I have told him multiple times". I told him to put a sign on that seat. 

But for that, the ride was pleasant and we were still in the mist. There was not much visibility on the lake for the entire 40 minute ride. 

The van ride on muddy potholed roads on the Montaverde side was actually beautiful. We were going into and above the clouds. The scenery was breathtaking, wherever it was visible (see the video..)

We made it to two different hotels this time. Our friends stayed at Montaverde Inn and we ended up in El Bosque Inn. They were 5 minutes drive apart. El Bosque has sets of three rooms and 6 such sets on the main section. There is forest everywhere around us. It is a preserve. They also had a common room/reception/breakfast area and an Italian Restaurant right outside the main access road (which was so busy that you needed reservations in the morning to get dinner.. so we missed it). 

We were given 30 minutes to drop our bags and get ready for a pickup to Selvathura park. There was no chance for lunch. We made it to the park for the Ziplining adventure and were told we were still late and had to take a 2:30 slot instead of 1:30. There is a really nice restaurant at the Selvathura park with fast service. So we grabbed something and stood in line.

If you go to Montaverde, the Zipline at Selvathura is not to be missed. It is a 2 1/2 hour deal. There are 13 platforms, 16 lines (might have got those two mixed up) and a Tarzan swing (optional) and a Superman option where you go face down on the last longest line (1 Km) for an extra 11 bucks. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have gone on the Superman thing as well, but was happy to try Tarzan. The last leg was so misty that my eyes were blinded by the water.. so Superman would not have made a difference. If you do go on a clear day, don't even think about it... take the Superman option!

By the time we got out and handed our gear back, it was already 5:30PM and dark. So our trips to the butterfly garden and the night tour of the forest were moved to the following day. 

We had been on our feet the entire day and were glad to go back to the inn. Our rooms were ready by the time we got back and we decided to eat in the local town in MontaVerde at Pizza Metro... thanks to our friends recommendation. It turned out to be a nice place with great food and fast and courteous service. 

You can always get Taxis for 6-8 dollars to and from the inn's to the town. The reception folks as well as the restaurants are very nice and call taxis for you!

We were tired and wanted to sleep right after getting to the inn, but the forest and weather had other plans. The noise on the roof because of the wind and rain was deafening and it went on for a long time. It was like being in a take off.. once you know the roof holds, you go to sleep! 

Day 5 became even more packed and we were told pickup would be an hour earlier. The kids rejoiced at this.. no I am kidding. They were this close to going on strike, were it not for the fact that they were well fed at dinner. 

More to follow..

Butts up!!

The previous post in the series on the Belize trip is here..

On day 3, our schedule was supposed to be a visit to ATM. However, the Spa manager told us that due to some conflicts we were only confirmed for ATM two days later. My heart sank and I told her that our main reason for coming to Belize was ATM and she has to make sure that we visit on that day. 

They have to get drivers out of the Spa to various locations.. given we were the only family going to ATM from the Spa and there are a limited number of people who go through ATM a day, our Day 5 became the new confirmed date. On Day 3, we were going to do Cave Tubing and Zip lining instead.

We had the same guide who went with us to snorkel and that was a good thing. We started at 8AM and were at the tubing place,  Nohoch Che'en reserve, by 9:30 AM. We had to rent Crocs to wear as the tubing involved carrying a large tube and wading through water on slippery surfaces. We also got a helmet with a light on it and life vests. For the most part the tubing was in shallow water that was 3-4 feet deep. Only in a few places it was 5-6 feet deep. 

There was a 45 minute hike from the parking lot to the starting point on the river where we entered the caves. During this hike our guide gave us a lot of information about the local forests, the type of plants etc. etc. It was interesting and was like listening to a talk on Ayurveda. We saw some smaller caves on the way to the starting point.

One thing that was common to all caves was the bats on the cave roof.. there were lots of bats.. and the caves smelled of the bats!

Walked past a lot of ant hills.. red ants, leaf cutter ants, fire ants.. the entire biting family was there. As long as we kept walking, we were fine.. or so our guide assured us. We learned about the various poisonous plants, snakes and antidotes available from other plants.

After 40 minutes or so we reached the river.

Then our guide tied up all the tubes (there were 8 of us in the group) and tied that to his tube and pretty much pulled us or navigated the group with the flow of the river. 

We got to see a lot of rock formations created by the flowing river and a waterfalls inside the caves. It was a two and a half hour deal and we got our butts kicked by the rocks at places.. 

Every now and then our guide would shout "butts up!" and we would have to pull our butts up within the tube. San and me had front tube seats (or the absence of it) and the kids deliberately went to the last row to avoid the camera. Was not happy with that. Someday they will look at these pictures and appreciate them.. or so I hope!

A video highlights of our tubing experience.

Here are two slideshows from the Cave tubing..

 

We had lunch at the parking lot picnic tables after a quick shower and change of clothes. Then the four of us went to Zipline while the rest of the group was asked to shop around or go for a walk in the trails near the parking. 

The Zipline was only 45 minutes with two steep hikes and 4 zip lines, but two of those went across the entire river we had just tubed across. It was my first Zip line experience. 

There were no phones, go pros, nothing allowed on the Ziiplines as you needed your hands free and your undivided attention on the Zipline. Fortunately our guide took my phone and said "I will walk to the end of the first line and take photos of you guys. So we got some photos! 

On the longest line, San got her glove stuck on the line and that automatically made her brake and she never made it to the other side. She was still a good 10 feet away. I was behind her but the guy who was clearing us could not see the other side of the river. He said I was good to go. I see a bunch of people waving on the other side and the employee asking me to brake. Had to break a good 20 feet from the other end while they threw San a line for her to be pulled up. That line was not going to reach me. 

Was basically hanging out there and the attendant shouted "Sir, can you go flat along the rope and use both hands and pull yourself towards us?".. It was not like I had a choice.. Did everyone proud by pulling myself one hand at a time all the way to the end. That was an interesting experience. Was 200 feet above a river and was doing Tom Cruise style stuff. Was not expecting that. 

After we came back, it was a quiet drive back to the Spa. There was just enough time to get a shower, get ready to join the rest of the groups for dinner. Dinners at the Spa were becoming almost like a family feast. It was the same bunch of folks we were meeting every night. We shared stories of the day from the different groups and showed pictures and videos. Got to make a lot of new friends. It was fun..

The next days plans were still being made.. but we knew what we wanted to do!  The Spa manager had to juggle some logistics to make it happen.. 

Would strongly recommend the Cave tubing even for smaller kids 6+ as long as they can stretch themselves across the tube. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The Zipline, you have to be above 40 inches tall and the last two legs were scary. So it may not be for smaller kids. 

Another day well spent in Belize!