Day Nineteen – Meet Rene the Rana

Only two more days left here in Monteverde. Time is flying by and there is still so much to do. In classes, I’m trekking through irregular verbs and Kelly is having in depth conversations about education and the role of women in society. We’re learning a lot, but we just wish we had more time here.

Today was the day that we finally decided to make our way over to the Monteverde Reserve. The reserve itself is a couple miles wide and a few miles long of some of the oldest primary forests in the country. We’ve been wanting to go and visit the reserve the entire time that we have been here because it is noted for its wildlife and its beauty.

After classes, Kelly and I started our journey to the reserve with another student from CPI named Nancy. We heard that the reserve was close to CPI numerous times so we decided we could use the nice walk. It wasn’t raining, the clouds were moving into the forest, and it looked beautiful. However, beauty can be deceiving. 

Not once had we actually confirmed the distance between the school and the reserve, we just assumed that it was just around the bend. Boy, were we wrong. Turns out, the reserve isn’t just around the bend, it’s actually an 8 kilometer hike up the mountain to the front gate. Normally, I would have bit the bullet and just enjoyed the beauty, but we also had the other student with us who we convinced that walking to the reserve would be a good idea. Oops, our bad! Nevertheless, the beauty made up for the hour long hike up the hill. We saw the rolling hills covered with trees, the sun shining through the clouds, and two very distinct landmarks – the Friends School and the Trapp Family Lodge.

The former of the two is the school the Quakers set up and still educate in today, and the latter also had an interesting story. You may recognize that name from a certain famous musical movie classic. Truth be told, the Trapp Family Lodge was set up by some of the infamous members of the Von Trapp family that were dramatized in The Sound of Music.

Hike completed, we made our way to buy our entrance into the reserve and meet our guide. The tour was supposed to start at 1:30, and we arrived at 1:55. Usually, things run on Tico Time – always starting later than scheduled and what not; however, that was not the case today. The tour started on time and it sounded like we were out of luck. After climbing the mountain, being chased by dogs, we were not going to be able to see the reserve with a guide. We were crushed.

But there was hope. The receptionist got on the phone and providence saved us. There was a guide, close by, that said he would come up and lead us through the forest. Rodrigo definitely was the silver lining on the trip. He had been studying and researching the forest for a better part of a quarter of a century and shared his wealth of knowledge with us. We saw two different types of monkeys – howler and white faced – chase each other through the trees. Also, numerous plants and insects, and we even got walk on a hanging bridge over a canyon.

That being said, I didn’t get see the one thing I wanted to see in the reserve. No quetzals for Casey. I got to see where they live, I got see the food they eat, and even I got to see where a day earlier one was nesting. But no quetzal for me. I guess this is not the time of the year to see them. Alas, I guess I will just have to come back to Costa Rica to see one in life.

The tour ended around 4:30 and we called a cab for the ride back. As we waited for the cab, we visited a hummingbird exhibit.  Next to this little coffee shop, there were about 10 hummingbird feeders set up that have nearly 50 hummingbirds feeding on them. We got to see all 7 types of hummingbirds that are in Costa Rica zipping and zooming past our heads. They all were of various sizes and colors and I was sure they were going to hit me in the face. Rodrigo just laughed and said even if they did run into you, it would feel like a piece of paper . Oh well, don’t judge me!

After the reserve, we headed home and took a much needed rest. Our Tico parents came home and stared making dinner – our last one together. Interestingly enough, it was the same meal we had on our first night – Vegetables in soy sauce. Delicious. At the end of the meal, they told us to close our eyes. I was a little skeptical because Tomas is a known prankster, but there was no reason to be. After a few seconds, they came back with some handmade presents for us! Kelly got a puppet of one of the colorful frogs from Costa Rica, named Rene the Rana, and I got an apron with the words Pinto Gallo written on it. Both were hand made by Ana Patricia and Tomas and were definitely made with love.

We really could not have asked for a better set of Tico parents. They were caring, encouraging, and took us in as their own children. They were interested in our lives both here in Costa Rica and back home in Minnesota. We shared many stories, laughs, and Kelly and I will definitely be staying in contact with them. mean, they are the future versions of us. =)

10 Days. We’re almost down to single digits. It’s hard to believe it’s almost over! We’re heading to Manuel Antonio this weekend and start classes at Playa Flamingo on Monday. Let’s hope that this next week matches the greatness of the trip so far.

Con mucho amor,

Casey