Wanderers : 2025

Monteverde, Costa Rica was founded by a group of Quakers from the USA. The Quakers settled in Monteverde because of its fresh climate and excellent dairy farming. Additionally, they set aside a large tract of land for conservation which is now the Cloud Forest Biological Reserve.

Santa Elena is the main town and tourism hub of Monteverde. It is situated at 4,662 ft (1,440 m) above sea level.

What did we do?

We toured the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve. We booked a tour but we had to pay the entrance fee to the park separately. As we are parking, the attendant says the machines are down and they are only accepting cash. Well guess what?... I didn't bring my purse that had all the cash.

We park and our guide tells us no problem, we'll figure it out. We were talking to a woman, Rizelle, in line with us and mentioned our predicament of not having any cash. Luckily she said, "I can give you cash if you have Zelle". Rob does use Zelle but was able to Venmo her money and she gave him cash in return. Isn't technology awesome!?! As soon as the transaction was completed, the guide came over and said the machines were back up. Our ticket price was $18 (we got a senior discount) & $4 for parking!

I had to wait outside. Only 1
person allowed inside.

After you purchase your ticket you need to take a shuttle to the entrance of the park.

We obtain our passes:

Let the tour begin. I so want to see some more sloths.

Of course the day we visit the Cloud Forest, we have a perfectly beautiful day (I'm not complaining). Carlos, our tour guide, said it was like a day in May and that it didn't happen very often.

We started our tour at the Hummingbird Gallery.

They have 52 species of hummingbirds.

Tarantula
Costa Rica's Tarantulas are not poisonous

Monkeys

Another Tarantula

A Quetzel from behind

I'm always last

I had to get on my tippy toes
to see

The inside of a tree

This was so cool

A Hummingbird Nest

Through my phone versus the
tour guides telescope

Quetzel

We finished our tour with our guide. Now it is time to explore more of the park on our own. We decided to do the the Sendero Camino Trail to the Sendero El Puente Trail.

Which way do we go 🤔

Up of course

We found the
suspension bridge

Hurry take your picture 📸

Look Rob is on his phone

Me too!

Can we please just get
across

He is in full panic

Kids are jumping on the

Other end and shaking

The entire bridge

Finally back on the trail

Yes, exit, take me home

A great park, there was so much we did not see. Highly recommend.

We took a Coffee, Chocolate & Sugar Cane Tour @ Don Juan's. Sadly Don Juan passed away the day before we arrived. He was 87 years old.

We learned about the Cacao tree

Edin our tour guide

Mosquitoes pollinate the flowers

One fruit sells for $16

Mom tree -- they have over
2,450 trees

Edin hit the cacao on the
ground to open

Each pod contains 20 - 60 seeds
or cocoa beans

Seeds go in the box for 2 days

Seed 50% cocoa butter & 50% powder

This was the best part of the Chocolate Tour

Ladies making candy bars

I tried to get in the secure
room and "help" the ladies

Eden's Concoction.
It was like crack

The white chocolate was my
favorite

We squeezed Sugar Cane to get all the juices out.

It was not easy

It did not look appetizing

It was pretty good

Sugar cane is used to make Cacique Guaro. It's the best selling distilled spirit in Costa Rica.

Coffee

Coffee Cherries

Coffee Beans

My beans will be a coffee plant in 3 years

Picking 14 to 15 kilos earns $3-4

Honey Roasted beans are dried in the sun
without rinsing the sugars off

Experimenting with banana

Experimenting with orange

Experimenting with cocoa

Experimenting drying without air

Roasting removes the silver skin
The Silver skin is used to make
cigarette papers

See the skins on the counter

Light coffee 75% caffeine
Medium 55%
Dark 35%

After the tour we tried light, medium, dark, honey roasted, & hot chocolate. We both preferred the medium roast. We were both very chatty after all that fresh coffee.

Ficus La Raiz hiking trail. Well, it wasn't really a hiking trail but a nice shaded area with a very cool tree.

You know what goes down

I wanted to climb out there for
a photo op but Mr. buzzkill said no.

There were several sitting
areas

Must come back up

We caught a few Sunsets from our balcony.

Rob really enjoyed Laundry Day.

Restaurants / Bars

Soda La Amistad -- the food was so good and the prices were just as good.

Chicken Sandwich
Homemade bread, cheese,
lettuce, tomato, ketchup &
mayo

Empanada

The bread made the sandwich. We felt the Empanada could have been presented better.

Taco Taco

Guac & Chips delivered to
the wrong table, looked good

Sangria

Shrimp Taco

Esquites
Sweet corn in broth, spicy mayo
sauce, lime, chili & Tajin

Al Pastore Taco

We did go back the next night and had the chips & guac. We were not as impressed as we were the night before.

Soda Canton 83

Casado Con Carne en salsa
Casados is a combination of
rice, beans, sweet plantains,
cheese, salad and a protein

Pollo Quesadilla

Where did we stay?

Casa Hoja Monteverde an AirBnB with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, a laundry room and a balcony.

Worst Sofa EVER

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Kitchen

Bathroom

Laudry Room
Rob loved the washing machine

For all the research I do, I messed up on this one. After booking I reread the amenities and realized there was no air conditioning and I could not cancel. Our first night we slept with the windows open and let me tell you, it was cold and we quickly figured out why there was no AC! We even needed blankets. Wilson, our host, was very responsive and checked on us almost everyday. The room was not the best but it worked. That's what happens when you wait until the last minute to book during high season.

How did we get there? We drove and took the ferry again. It took us about 5 hours. We purchased our ferry ⛴️ tickets 🎟 for a 2:30 departure. We hit a roadblock for tree removal but we made it to the ferry dock by 12:15. Just in time for the 12:30 departure!