February 27 – Rainmaker Walk and Drive to Monteverde

We were up pretty early to get ready for our departure.  There was a lovely, soft sunrise (sunrises are one of the few benefits of getting up so early).

Our driver arrived almost an hour early this morning but fortunately we were just about packed and were on the road about 20 minutes after he arrived.  Along the way we asked him to stop at a pharmacy.  Mary legs and arms are covered with itchy bites and she needed some anti-itch cream.  Nearest we can figure it was bedbugs.  Will need to let the hotel know that they have a problem.

An hour so after we left, we arrived at Rainmaker, a small private reserve.  This reserve is a rainforest, and we have a guide to take us through the reserve.  The trail is mostly stairs.  The first major set of stairs we tires that had been filled with concrete.  The actually made fairly good stairs. 

There were also some bridges spanning ravines and viewing platforms...

and lots of very green paths.

We didn’t see a huge amount of wildlife here but enough to make it worthwhile. 

Black Throated Trogon, male (they have very interesting stipes on the underside of their tail).  Unfortunately, the leaves are hiding the tail in this photo.

Black Throated Trogon, female (you can see the stiped tails on these photos of the females)

The shed comb from a spiny tailed iguana

Helmet Headed Lizard

Central American Whiplash lizard

Gecko.

There was also a small stream that ran through the valley of the park. 

There were small waterfalls... 

and a few pools.  We saw people swimming and wading in some of the pools.  The water looked very refreshing but we hadn’t dressed for a swim so we passed.

At the end of the walk we took a rest stop at their small ticket office/café and had something to drink.  The guide also had snacks for us.  

Almost all of the morning walks have included some lovely fresh fruit as a snack.  The fruit here is very good, especially the pineapple.  Costa Rica is the world’s largest producer of pineapple.

Then we were back on the road for the drive to Monteverde.

The distance wasn’t very long but the last 30 or so miles were on a reasonably good but fairly windy, mountainous road.  So, it was a slow drive.  But the views were beautiful.

We are staying at the Hotel Belmar, a very lovely hotel up in the hills above town (nothing close so we will be eating at the hotel for this stay).  The room is huge and has a huge balcony with massive tub.  Not a hot tub with jets…just a huge tub.  But it should surely be good for a soak one day.

We had a nice sunset tonight...

and they did a lovely job on plating our dinners...fresh herbs and flowers added to the plate. They grow a lot of their own herbs and vegetables in the hotel's garden.  Mary had the beef tenderloin.