Head in the Clouds !!!

August 21st 2006

Left Heredia on the 29th July, having said my goodbyes to Emilia, Ana, Franklin & Oscar....& took the local bus from San Jose up to Santa Elena/Monteverde.......... 6 hours later...with cramps in my legs (buses here are made for the petite Ticos & NOT us huge Europeans !!) I then arrived in Santa Elena & was met off the bus by Zak (good ole American name !). Basically....the "town" here is called Santa Elena & the cloud Forest is the Monteverde reserve........so many people refer to the area as Monteverde....when in fact then is no town or settlement of that name. The butterfly Garden is actually in Cerro Plano ! Sounds confusing, but basically it's just a main track (not even a real road!)...along which, there are various hotels & tourist attractions.

Here in monteverde up at an elevation of about 1300m & as you've probably guessed.....it's quite cloudy up here, but the scenery is MAGNIFICENT when you can see !!!!

The night I arrived, zak & I took a taxi to the garden & I was introduced to the other American Volunteer, Ximena (she's the one who turned out to be an extremely condescending & nasty person!)...& I was shown around the nature center.

Full of Tarantulas, tailess whip scorpions, true scorpions, bugs, beetles & other creatures.......I thought Mmmmmmm...gonna sleep well tonight !!!! In fact half of the above mentioned beasts were also in my room.......I think they thought it was a local hostel !! So......kicked a few of them out & tried to get some kip ! talk about living close to nature...I am definitely AT ONE with it !!!!!!!!!!

Had a restless night.......but the following day I then cleaned my new abode & unpacked. Looked around the place & followed a couple of people around on their tours to see what was in store for me.

There was another volunteer, Jade (20 yrs old from Michigan) who was lovely & we got on really well.....we had a good laf together & did a bit of hiking together. She took me up one of the highest (& steepest !) hills in the area...Cerro Amigos...almost killed me & can't even say it was worth the view as it was dusk by the time we got up & dark as we were coming down !! Ho hum !! Also managed to fall & really bruise my arse !! It still hurts now when I sit down & that was 3 weeks ago !!!!!!!! You wouldn't have thought that with a rear end the size of mine it would be possible!

Anyway...both the volunteers have left now & there is another 19yr old from Germany (Ina)...also very nice & it's nice to be able to talk a bit of "kraut" too ! She is leaving on Thursday, next week, so we are having a leaving party on the wednesday night here at the garden. I shall then be here on my own till the Sunday when I go to San Jose to pick Lissa up. She's coming out for 4 months & I can't wait ! We want to do a language course together so shall probably head off up to Granada in Nicaragua & do it there....then we shall explore a little & go & have a few adventures !!!!

So...life at the Garden is fab. I love it here. We work 6 days a week 0830 - 1630 & do about 2 tours a day (lasting about 1.5 hrs). We start off in the nature room where we talk about all the Bugs, beetles, insects & cool creatures first. We then do a tour through each garden, which represent different microhabitats (elevations) here in CR. We then end in garden 4 which represents the habitat of Monteverde so it is open to the elements. There are loads of beautiful butterflies & they are absolutely spectacular on a sunny day. Will try & put some photos on this blog for you all. There is also quite a cool leaf cutter ant colony which shows the punters what is going on beneath the surface...very interesting.

So......that's my "Work".....& it's great !!! We even manage to earn ourselves a few tips which pay for the wobbly waters !

In the town there are 2 main bars........Bar Amigos & the Taberna, both are cattle markets at the weekends but it is funny to see everyone dressed up & dancing salsa & merengue to this awful "reggaetone".....FUN !!!!!

I have a fairly good social life as I have met some nice people (mostly through Zak) & there are quite a few Gringos up here (Yanks). Have also met this lovely Tica, Lidia, who has just moved up here & we get on really well so will probably see a lot more ofeach other.

There is also a bar/cafe place called "Bromelias" which has a concert every Thursday in a little ampitheatre.....have seen a nicaraguan band & another CR percussion guy who was fantastic.

There are also various invitations to peoples' houses for dinner etc. which is great fun, as normally there is quite a good mix of people. On my days off I try to get out & walk some of the beautiful trails around the area. I visited an amazing waterfall at San Luis the other week and even though it rained nearly all day...it just didn't detract from the beauty of the place! There is also a waterfall just down from the garden...we can sneak onto the trails (normally cost $7 to get in) via one of the gardens here! It's only a shortish trail (25 mins) but it's very pretty with a stunning viewpoint too.

Well.....I hope that this gives you an insight into my life here.......I do wish though, that you could see it in person as I will never be able to do this place justice....as the photos won't either !

I shall try & update this regularly too so ENJOY !!!!!

for now....Hasta Luego (see you soon) y mucho abrazos y Besos (hugs & kisses) x

September 1st 2006

Where is this year going ??? Can't believe that we are already 3/4 of the way through 2006...soon be Christmas !!!!! Grrrrreat !!!!!!

Well....I have now been at the 'Garden' for 5 weeks & have managed to survive the 6 day working week !!!!!! Probably half of you didn't believe that I could handle it...but you know...this "Work" lark is pretty easy really ! ha !!

Actually today it was very quiet....I only did one tour for these Americans then in the afternoon there was the biggest thunderstorm that I've seen (& heard!) since crossing the Atlantic ! So much lightening & Soooo much water fell from the skies that the nature room actually got flooded !!! (there was obviously a bad leak somewhere!). Spent most of the time mopping up & sweeping the water out of the door !!!! Afterwards though, it was spectacular as all the mist was rising from the cloud forest & the sky looked quite mystical.............very beautiful.

Also had capuchin monkeys playing in the trees this am. as well as Bell Birds, toucans & then I saw an agouti (a big gingery guinea pig thingy!) in garden 4.....he must have chewed his way in through the netting !!! So...all in all, a pretty awesome (to use the American expression!) day.

On wednesday night we held a party here & cooked up a huge pot of Spag bol, for Ina's leaving "Do"....was a great night & was worth the 'Delicate" head the following day ! Was really nice too as my mate Sarah, who I know from the British Embassy in Vienna, is now in Monteverde (at the language school) so I was able to catch up with her. She's actually staying 3 weeks so we have plenty of time to get up to lots of mischief & adventures !!!

It's now Friday & instead of "painting the town red" I decided to have a night in for "Me"........so I have done my laundry, showered & am now loafing around in my PJs & writing this in the nature room , where the computer is set up. I have my iPod plugged into the speakers & am keeping the insects & creatures entertained with a bit of the Stereophonics !!! It's quite funny really, as nearly all the beasties in this room are more active in the night, so all around me there are scrapings, scratching & rustlings...I'm used to it now, but I remember when I fist got here it was actually quite creepy !!!

On Sunday, I'm then taking the 0630 bus to the big smoke to pick my friend Lissa up from the airport. She's arriving in the afternoon, then we'll spend the night in Heredia as I don't want to stay in San Jose. On monday am. I am then popping into see my Tica mum (host family) for a coffee & chat before getting the 1430 bus back up to monteverde. Tuesday it's then back to the 'grindstone' !! Ha !!!!

Well............I shall love you & leave you now, but wil ask to borrow Zaks' computer to download some more photos next week, so till then.......................

Pura Vida and don't forget your dreams !

Abrazos y besos........xxxxxxx

September 18th 2006

Well, the last couple of weeks have been great, despite the rainy weather having set in. On the morning before I travelled down to San Jose on the bus to meet Lissa it was a fabulous morning & I saw toucans up in the trees here at the garden & also saw a beautiful toucanet feeding her baby just up the road. A great start to the day ! Lissa then arrived that afternoon & we spent her first night in CR in Heredia before getting the bus back up here to Monteverde. The journeys down & up were fine & we had magnificent views across the Nicoya peninsula & the surrounding cloud forest...truly spectacular.

Lissa started giving tours on her second day & is really enjoying being here. I am enjoying her being here too & we have spent the last 2 lots of days off together which has been great.

The first day off we had, we both had major hangovers from a party we had been to the night before, but we still had a fantastic walk to a place called San Luis. We then walked back up to Monteverde along a beautiful path, with, again, incredible views. It seems to rain on my days off & that day was no exception !! We got completely soaked to the skin, but it still didn't detract from the beauty of the place.

Last week it was incredibly quiet at the Garden & there were a couple of days when there weren't even enough people for all of us (Zak, Lissa & myself) to give a tour. However, on one of my tours I had this 8 year old lad who kept calling the Blue Morpho butterfly, the "Blue ORPHAN!" very sweet ! He then came running up to me in the 4th garden & said that he has found a chrysallis. I then went with him to see this "chrysallis" which turned out to be the big puprple "flower" part of the banana tree !!! His mother & I couldn't stop laughing !

Then again, last week, there was much frivolity in the garden as Martha (the owners wife) & I were watching the white faced monkeys in the trees, when suddenly this small guy opened his legs & sat just above us bearing his all !!!!! He had this enormous erection and kept looking at us as if to say "hey look at this !" We were in hysterics but it didn't seem to bother him one bit !

On the 15th September here in CR, it is Independence Day & they celebrate it with a parade through the streets on the evening of the 14th with 'faroles" or torches. Basically when CR got it's Independence in 1821, the news came from the city of Antigua in Guatemala in the form of a lit torch which was brought all the way South, to inform the people of this news. Nowdays, this burning torch is still brought down through the countries from Guatemala & when it reaches CR down the Panamerican highway, school children take smaller torches (from the main one) & they are taken to every school in the country! On the 15th there are then fiestas over the country & more parades with drumming & local dancing. We watched some of these festivities which was very interesting & some of the torches (homemade) were fantastic. Most of them were cardboard boxes with pictures cut out of the sides & a candle placed in the middle to illuminate them. One of them was incredible & looked exactly like a small house with a porch & a fire in the "living room"....beautiful, although it did make me think of the fire risk as a lot of the kids holding the torches were very young !!

Anyway.......last Friday night there was a leaving party for one of my friends up here & so we all went out for something to eat then went dancing & drinking at this local bar. It was a great evening & it got even better on the way home, as Lissa & I saw an armadillo !!! Yep..... 2am & there it was sauntering across the road !!!! It was amazing & had I known then, that they have incredibly poor eyesight I would have gone up to it to look at it more closely ! Next time !

The following morning, after only having had a few hours sleep, Lissa & I woke up at 6am to get the bus & boat over to La Fortuna. Basically, Zak had given us 2 days off so we wanted to do something away from MV. We decided to go & visit the Volcano at Arenal which is still active & still puffing & spluttering away.

So, we got the bus to the Laguna de Arenal then caught a boat over the man-made lagoon with fabulous views of the volcano. It was then a half hour bus ride to the town of la Fortuna which is overshadowed by the Arenal Vocano, when it isn't obscured by clouds !! We were in fact exteremely lucky as many people go to the area & don't see it at all.

After having booked into the backpackers & into a dorm room with 3 gorgeous American lads (!) we decided to do a tour which included a guided Nature walk through a protected area of primary forest, a visit to the Tabacon Hotsprings & an "eat all you can" buffet dinner ! The walk was beautiful, but it then began to absolutely pour down with rain & we all got SO wet ! We didn't see too much wildlife either & unfortunately out guide was a bit useless ! Basically Lissa & I spotted all the spider monkeys before he did ! We did however, see a huge family of peccaries (wild pigs) & the forest was magnificent.

When it got dark, after about 2 hours walking, we then walked to a viewpoint where we had a spectacular view of the volcano erupting ! We truly were so lucky as it had been in the clouds for most of the walk & they just seemed to disappear at the right time ! We saw the lava flowing down the side of the volcano & heard the noises as it erupted...pretty cool !!

After the volcano viewing, we were then taken to some very exclusive hotsprings where we spent a couple of hours parboiling ourselves in the most amazing surroundings ! The Tabacon hotsprings are all in a natural setting & the rivers & pools all have stony & pebbly bottoms, with lush plants & trees all around !! Very decadent & very relaxing ! I was almost too relaxed to eat...but don't fret......it was an "eat all you can" buffet & I did my bit for England !!! Great food & once again, beautiful surroundings. All in all it was wet, hot & steamy trip & so totally knackering that we were in bed by 11pm !!!!

Yesterday......after we had both slept in till 10am......we slobbed in the hammocks & read & chilled out for the rest of the morning. After lunch we were then picked up & taken back to MV via the lagoon once again. Whilst crossing we were able to see lots of birds including herons & kingfishers & we were even lucky enough to see a river otter....gorgeous !

Today, I woke up to bright blue skies & toucans up in the trees, however, by 9am the rain had set in & it doesn't seem to have stopped all day !!! Apparently, this is what the weather is normally like in September & October......GREAT !!!

So.........that's about all for now. Lissa & I will be leaving Monteverde in just over a weeks' time & I can't quite believe that the time has gone by so quickly !

I shall endeavour to update this & add more photos soon...I promise !

Till next time...keep shining & smiling & remember to live each day as if it's your last ! Pura Vida xxxx