Onward again to the cloud forest

Halfway through our trip and it was time to leave Arenal. There was no chance of taking any final shots of the volcano as the cloud cover was the lowest we'd seen during our stay, although the sun was shining at our level as we prepared to leave.

We were picked up promptly at nine for the short drive to Lake Arenal where we boarded the boat that was to take us across. This is the best option for travel between Arenal and Monteverde, cutting out part of what would otherwise be a much longer drive.

For the first part of the ride we stayed close to shore. Our boat driver, another Marcos, took the trouble to hunt down and point out various birds, including a couple of different kingfishers, a large heron, anhinga and egret.

Egret

Then we set out across the lake with good views back to Volcan Arenal, still partly shrouded in cloud, and of the surrounding area, a mix of rainforest and cleared agriculture land.

After about forty minutes we arrived at the disembarking point. There was some chaos as lots of vehicles jostled to leave with their passengers but soon we were off.

The rough road climbed steeply and bumpily, with wonderful views all around. It was impossible to take photos from the minibus because of the bumps, but our driver stopped at one point so we could get out and do so.

The drive to Sant Elena took a bit over an hour. We had a friendly welcome at our hotel, the Senda Monteverde, but we were too early to get our room. So after getting some info about the hotel and pre-booking a time for dinner and also breakfast tomorrow (all meals have to be booked ahead!) we decided to walk into Sant Elena for lunch.

It was a steep descent and my mind turn inevitably to the return climb, but I decided it was worth it for the tasty lunch in a local coffee shop and the chance to wander around a town as a break from the mainly natural attractions of this trip. Costa Rica is of course famous for being one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. So maybe it’s not so surprising after all to see that biodiversity celebrated on the streets of Sant Elena in mural form.

We stopped at the same coffee shop on the way back up the hill (great iced mocha) and got back to the hotel a bit before three to find our room ready and waiting. Perched on the hillside (more climbing!) it had a deck with views right across to the Pacific and of the hummingbird-friendly garden. With a couple of hours to wait before our planned night tour, this was the perfect spot in which to while away the time sorting photos and making notes.

Seating area in our room at the Senda Monteverde

Night walk in the cloud forest

The night tour however proved a bit of a disappointment. We had been promised the chance to see all sorts of creatures but our guide at the Children's Eternal Forest, Giovanni, was more interested in trees than animal life. Far from 'pointing out an array of insects, reptiles, birds and mammals that inhabit the forest at night' as we’d been promised, he produced only two tarantulas, one smaller spider (which another guide found for him), two sleeping parakeets, a cockroach and lots of ants! Spotting wildlife is never guaranteed of course, but I'd hoped for better, I have to confess.

Some sort of spider

Back at the hotel we had a latish dinner in the restaurant, which was very good, and got to bed a bit later than we had been doing on this trip, despite having yet another early start ahead of us tomorrow!