Costa Rica, Monteverde – Superman and Super Bugs

From La Fortuna we made our way by jeep and boat to Monteverde, a small mountain town renowned for its virgin cloud forest reserve. Having been in hot and humid climates for some time it was nice to breathe the fresh mountain air.

We decided to do a ‘Canopy Tour’ (basically zip-lining through the tree tops) and having been kitted out with gloves, helmet and harness we set off. It was great fun, zipping along wires from tree to tree, sometimes over a hundred meters off the ground when we crossed over the valley. At one point as we were strapping in for the next ride we found ourselves just a few feet away from a group of Howler monkeys who watch us intently from the tree tops.

There was also had a massive Tarzan rope-swing which was particularly scary as you had to jump from a platform high above the ground where the rope is slack meaning you fall a few metres before the rope tightens and you begin to swing. I was really nervous about doing it and clung to the railings of the platform. The guide kept edging me forward until my feet hung over the edge and then he nudged me off. You could probably hear my screams the two miles away in the town and I definitely did not sound like Tarzan. I was shaking from the adrenaline for the next half an hour but really glad I had done it.

The last zip line was the longest and fastest at over a kilometre long stretching far out over the valley from one hill to another. Sam had decided to do this one ‘superman style’. He was strapped to the zipline by both his feet and shoulders so he was lying flat and facing down. He was told to keep his arms stretch out as he ‘flew’ over the valley. I went first, conventional style, sweeping high above the ground getting faster and faster until I eventually reached the other end out of breath. I turned to watch Sam’s arrival. After a minute or two a saw a small speck travelling at an incredible speed, then I heard him yelling. He got closer and closer and larger and larger flying through the air like a huge lanky bird, and he wasn’t slowing down. He zoomed through the trees face first towards the end of the line scattering everyone who had been watching. The guides pulled hard on their ropes to slow him down and he eventually came to a halt grinning madly and begging to go again.

The next day we arranged to take a hike through the Cloud Forest of Monteverde, ...and Cloud Forest it was. We trekked through dense fog and rolling mist through dark jungle and across gushing rivers. The area is famous for its biodiversity although we only managed to find a few large bugs.

In the afternoon we went for a walk amongst the hanging bridges of Monteverde and were a little more successful. We saw Capuchin monkeys (often called Cappuccino monkeys due to their small white faces and dark bodies) watching us shyly from the trees.