catch-up, May 5, 2010

a lot has happened since I last wrote on May 4th. Today is Saturday, May 15th.

Where do I start? Probably best by taking a look at my pictures on my laptop aand explaining why I haven't posted for all this time. The main reason is the insufferable keyboard on my little netbook. Random things happen and it would take me forever to get an intelligible post out the door. Second is the lack of time on the road and the fickleness of getting on line. Anyway, let me try to catch up today here in the hotel lobby of Hotel San Tomas in San Jose.

On May 5th we took off for the cloud forest of Monteverde. On the way we stopped at the Hanging Bridges of Arenal. The bridges were a self guided tour which took us most of the morning as there were many bridges to cross. Basically, it was a walk through the jungle of tree tops and ground growth of all types. Epiphytes grew everywhere. Lichens and moss was covering every available surface. Monkeys were in the trees and birds of all kinds flew about. It was a precursor of things to come in our journey. For Marlies it was a tough and long walk up and down the mountain sides. For me it was scary to walk across the high hanging bridges. I don't know where my fear of heights comes from but there it is. The views from the bridges across the landscape were extraordinary.

For lunch we stopped at a roadside lodge which gave us some more views of Vulcan Arsenal and the nature that abounds the area.

As we drove on we started our search for a hotel for the night when we saw this Swiss chalet on the roadside. I pulled in immediately to check it out. They showed me our room with balcony and I was sold for the night. It is probably best to view the pictures of this little Switzerland but suffice it to say that the owner invested his life in the endeavor and with some marketing and finishing touches could really have something there. He seems to have started things aand then never finished or neglected them. Still, we had an enjoyable stay there.