Monteverde is one of the well known natural parks of Costa Rica. It lies in the mountains in about 1400 meters above sea level. There are numerous trails inside the reserve, but with basically 2 destinations. One is the viewpoint over the Continental Divide mountain range, the Pacific and the Caribean as well. That is on a clear day, which is not often, as it is a cloudforest. The other is a cascade waterfall. Both of them are totally walkable in 1 day.
We took the bird watching trail on the way to the viewpoint, where we were entirely covered in the cloud, so couldn´t see even the nearest tree, but it was still very nice. On the way back we took the upper trail which leads to the hanging bridge, a small Golden Gate, which is truly spectacular hanging over the untouched cloudforest. Then on the way to the cascade, we encountered some coatis, not worried at all about people. It was us worried it would bite us actually, that close it went. After that it continued finding itself food and climbing trees. Great experience.
There are plenty of activities to do in Monteverde. After the hike in the reserve we decided for 2 more. First was the night tour of the forest. The guides take small groups into the forest after dark, give them flashlights and finds the nocturnal animlas, not possible to se during the day. Absolutely exciting! We saw plenty of them, including the smallest frog in Costa Rica, different interesting insects, a very poisonous snake and a very active sloth, climbing over 4 trees in about 5 minutes.
Just before leaving Monteverde, Michal decided I needed more adrenalin. He took me to canopy tour and I was so nervous! At the beggining it was ok, they do try to give it to you bit by bit. So it was 6 relatively short ropes After that came one longer and then the superman. My adrenalin already reached really high levels and so I really loved it. We went in the superman position twice over the deep valley surounded by clouds, trully mystical. But the „real adrenalin“ was still awaiting me. The last piece is called the Mega Tarzan Swing. They put you on a rope, you jump into a 50 m deep void among the trees and then you swing several times like Tarzan. Totally crazy sh**. I came up there, said I couldn´t do it and left to watch Michal. When I saw him from down there, it didn´t look that bad, so I decided to overcome
my fear and try it again. But seeing it from the top brought it all back. I said to the guys I am leaving again, but they just said „Nah, the first time we let you leave, but the second, we have to push you.“ They fastened the ropes really quick and they really pushed me down!!! Oh my, I never screamed so much. Adrenalin just bursted out and I was shaking for the next 2 hours at least. But I was actually happy they did push me, because it was an experience of a lifetime.