Hola! This weekend I went to Monteverde with my friends Brian and Pod, and I figured I should blog about it since it was something new! Big shoutout to Brian and Pod for making it an awesome weekend filled with adventure!

Hola! El fin pasado fui a Monteverde con mis amigos Brian y Pod, y supongo que escribiría un post sobre el viaje porque fue algo nuevo! Muchísimas gracias a Brian y Pod por hacer un fin bueníssimo con mucha aventura! 

Santa Elena and the Fig Tree House

I have to take a moment to recommend the Fig Tree House, which we booked through airbnb. It was a full house with three beds (two twin and one queen) and one bathroom. The deck on the back of the house overlooked Santa Elena, which is the main town. It was a gorgeous view, and the house had comfy hammocks from which to enjoy it! Plus, there was a cat who loved cuddling, which is always a plus in my book! The owner and her family were great, and we actually ended up building our itinerary mostly from the owner’s recommendations. It’s a a fabulous place to call home for a weekend!

Tengo que recomendarle The Fig Tree House, una casita que encontramos en airbnb. Es una casa con tres camas (dos pequeñas y una grande) y un baño. El corredor tenía una gran vista de Santa Elena, el pueblo principal. Fue una vista muy bonita, y la casa tenía hamacas muy cómodas para sentarse y disfrutar la vista. También, había un gato que le gusta acurrucarse mucho, que es siempre bueno a mi! La dueña y su familia fue agradables, y al final usamos casi todas las recomendaciones de ella para nuestro itinerario. Fue un lugar muy maravilloso para ser hogar por un fin!  

Santa Elena is small and super cute! You can definitely tell that it is a tourist town, due to all the travel/adventure companies set up along the road. There are a few restaurants/bars, a great heladería (yes, of course we tried the ice cream), and a bunch of hostels. We pretty much just walked around and did some browsing in souvenir shops, which we followed up with a delicious lunch where we met yet another friendly kitty!

Santa Elena es pequeño y super chiva! De verdad es un pueblo muy turístico, porque hay muchas empresas de aventura en las calles. Hay unos restaurantes y bares, una heladería muy buena (sí, claro que comimos el helado),  y muchos hosteles. Más o menos sólo caminamos y buscamos en las tiendas de chunches. Después comimos un almuerzo rico, en donde que conocimos otro gato muy amable! 

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Stella’s Bakery, where we ate breakfast every day (and perhaps some lunch and desserts, too). Try the huevos rancheros. Trust me on that one.

Ay, y necesito decir algo sobre Stella’s Bakery, en donde desayunamos cada día (y tal vez algo almuerzo y postres también). Prueba los huevos rancheros. Confíeme.

Here are some pics, but keep scrolling down for the rest of the post!

Aquí están algunas fotos, pero abajo está el resto del post! 

Nightlife/La Vida Nocturna

I have long since accepted the fact that my late nights out partying are long gone. However, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t enjoy the nightlife, especially when we found things to do that are part of the tico culture! On Saturday we went to something that would be called a fair in English but is called a fiesta in Spanish. It’s exactly what you’d picture a fair to be…food stands, music, rides, and tons of people. We went for a couple of hours to people watch, dance, listen to music, and, of course, eat. It was a fun night out where we got to experience some of the local culture!

Hace mucho tiempo, he aceptado que todavía no puedo salir tan tarde en estes días. Sin embargo, todavía puedo disfrutar la vida nocturna, especialmente cuando encontramos cosas para hacer que son parte de la cultura tica! El sábado fuimos a una fiesta (en inglés es “fair”). Es exactamente que esperaría de una fiesta…comida, música, atracciones, y mucha gente. Fuimos por unas horas para ver la gente, bailar, escuchar música, y por supuesto comer. Fue una noche muy linda en donde podíamos vivir algo cultura local!

On Sunday, we met up with our new friend Mauricio, who was our guide on our canopy tour that morning (more on the tour later). We spent a few hours playing pool with him, while his wife struck it rich at the slot machine! It was really fun to hang out with new people, practice Spanish, and accidentally win a game of pool! While we were there, we watched a tico show called Tu cara me suena. It was basically a singing competition show like The Voice, except competitors had to imitate famous singers and music videos. It was rather entertaining!

El domingo, conocimos nuestro nuevo amigo Mauricio, que fue nuestra guía en el tour de canopy en la mañana (te digo más sobre el tour más tarde). Pasamos unas horas jugando el billar con él, mientras su esposa ganó mucha plata en la maquina de casino! Fue muy divertido de pasar un buen rato con nuevas personas, practicar español,  y ganar un partido de billar accidentalmente! Mientras estábamos allí, vimos un program que se llama Tu cara me suena. Basicamente fue una competencia de cantar como The Voice pero tuvieron que imitar cantadores famosos y videos de música. Fue tan entretenido! 

Nature/La naturaleza

Oh man, what can I say about the nature in Monteverde? It’s beautiful! We spent tons of time doing lots of outdoor activities, so I’ll sum them all up in this section.

I am too tired to translate any more. Maybe one day I’ll come back and do it, but for today, I’m sorry to say that the rest of the post will be English only. 😦

• Monteverde Butterfly Garden
  • One-hour tour where you learn lots about butterflies and other insects like beetles and millipedes!
  • We were glad we did this tour before the rest of our outdoor adventures because we were able to apply the things we learned at the butterfly garden to what we saw in the wild!
• Night hike – Curi Cancha Reserve
  • Two-hour tour at night! It was so cool to walk around the forest in the dark (don’t worry, we had flashlights) and search for nocturnal animals.
  • We saw an orange-kneed tarantula, green-eyed click beetles, grasshoppers, two different kinds of frogs, millions of tadpoles, and some cool birds!
  • If you go to Monteverde, definitely do a night tour. It was an awesome experience.
  • Fun fact: Trees in Costa Rica don’t have rings because they don’t have seasons, and the leaves don’t die each year. So it’s hard to tell exactly how old a tree is!
• Canopy tour and hanging bridges hike – Selvatura Park
  • We spent the morning ziplining over the canopy and then hiking through the forest over a series of hanging bridges.
  • What more can I say? The whole thing was awesome and beautiful! We didn’t see much wildlife, but it was still an amazing day.
• Day hike – Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
  • Two-hour hike to a mirador where you are supposed to be able to see both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, but we couldn’t see either. Nonetheless, we had a great time!
  • We saw some animal thing that I can’t remember the name of, a viper, tons of millipedes, and spider monkeys! Not bad for not having a guide, eh?

Honestly we took so many pictures on our hikes that I’ll just let them speak for themselves! (Plus I’m tired and can’t write anymore.)