I'll Strangle You Fig!

Weekend 2: Friday, July 6^th

My grandma, what a green forest you have!
Why, the better to drop porcupines on you, my dear!

The sneaky sun begins its slow ascent into the sky as I get up and ready myself for the day. After a short debate with myself (these things should be televised: such good arguments), I bipass my shower to straighten my hair. This may seem trivial to all you boys out there... or girls with perfect hair, but to those of us who battle Mr. Frizz and his gang of fly-aways everyday, a break from the hassle is well worth the time. But it does not take much time at all. I am not used to my short hair timing, and within 15 minutes it is straight and hassle free. Yay!

I gather my things, finish packing, and am ready to run at barely 5:30. That was a very productive thirty minutes. I meet Jackie and Alicia at the Gimnasio del Este at the top of my street, and Alicia tells me that when she called this morning, the taxi lady said to just flag one down. So we do. And he is good. We zip left, then right, dodging traffic and barely acknowledging street signs and lights. He takes the back roads in order to miss the center town traffic and within ten minutes we are sitting in front of the Coca Cola station. It would have taken at least thirty minutes if we had taken the bus (they don’t run that early, which is why we had to hail a cab). So, if you are with friends (to split the bill), taxis can be fun. I withdraw my judgement.

It does not take long for the other girls to join us and board the bus to Monteverde. I have decided that while bus trips in and of themselves are not an overly pleasant experience, this trip is rather nice. The road is smooth, and my conversation with Alicia is challengingly honors related. It is nice. Alicia and I talk a lot, and it is great to feel that I am making a new friend. :)

We make a stop where I buy some slightly soft M&Ms that I swear are the best I have ever tasted and a pound cake, both of which Alicia and I devour. I think we are craving sugar. The rest of the trip is bumpy... way bumpy. As in, I think we traded our bus for an insane merry-go-round. But the views are stunning, and I go a bit picture crazy. I love the mountains.

Once in Santa Elena, we are quickly pointed toward our hotel: a lovely building built into the side of the mountain. Cabinas Vista al Golfo has private baths, hammocks (which we immediately take advantage of), and an amazing view. All for an extremely low price (ten dollars a night). I am in love.

I am lounging in a hammock listening to our options for the weekend when a little face peeks over the side at me. I sit up to say hi, and just like that, she plops in with me. As I help her get settled and get up myself, her mom comes up. “Why don’t you ask her if you can share?” I laugh and help her in, but the hammock is a bit faulty, and she almost falls out. The girls are laughing at me – “Don’t let her fall!” I exclaim, “I won’t! I’m good with kids!” I miss work. I miss my kids. I talk to the young mother for a while as Alex, four, swings in the hammock and Jackson, six months, sits in a pouch tied to his mother’s chest. I am impressed that she and her husband feel comfortable enough to take their children with them on their trips. It is so cool.

We decide to take a tour to the Monteverde Cheese (Chesse!) Factory. It sounds silly, but the short tour is actually pretty interesting. I learn how cheese is made and stored, and we learn about the history of Monteverde (it was founded by Quakers!). Our guide, Greybeans (okay, that’s not his name, but that’s what he said!), tells us all something very cool: what they do with the whey. They send it to a hog farm up the road. They feed that waste to cows and then, after a purifying treatment, put it in the river. Therefore, they get rid of over ninety percent of the contaminants before sending it on. How cool is that? All that extra work has helped them open a meat factory. I cringed during this part of the slide show. Ugh. I never want to see so much meat again.

On the walk back to las Cabinas, I begin a list of things we love about Monteverde. It will go up with Sunday’s blog. We pass a bug world, a serpent museum, and gorgeous views on our walk, and I realize I could spend a week here happily. It is so beautiful, and there is a lot to do! A little dog joins us for the rest of the trip back, and we dub him our perrito tico. Unfortunately, a dog near las Cabinas scares him away. How rude.

We make it back just in time to meet our bus for the Night Tour. There we are transported to a little forest and offered rain ponchos and flashlights. We follow our guide, Antonio, into the forest, and are rewarded with beautiful scenery as night approaches. The tour starts off slow – Antonio is not as enthusiastic as the others... but then he can’t be or he will scare off the animals – but once I realize that taking pictures is pointless, I have a great time! I absorb everything, including a sloth, a sleeping bird, a couple of porcupines – they look like monkeys! – and... the ant colony from hell. I see them walking along a log, and I am fascinated. We stop for a second and then move on... but suddenly I start itching. I shine the flashlight down and see that my feet are covered in ants. I start stomping and quickly walking, but I cannot move fast enough. Finally, the group moves forward, and I can shake off most of the ants. But now my feet really itch; they got some damn good bites in.

My favorite part of the walk is the strangler fig. It is a tree that drops its seeds on the ground, which are then eaten by a small animal. This animal defecates in the top of another tree, and the roots of the fig become vines that extend down around the host tree. They attach to the ground and begin to suck the nutrients from the host tree. In a matter of years (many years), the inside tree rots away and leaves only a hollow fig tree. Toward the end, we get to see up in one that is a couple centuries old. It is fascinating. I find myself wishing Matt were here – as I have many times on this trip, but I know Sean would love this too. They’re plant people.

One thing I have noticed is the lack of rain. It rains in the afternoons in town, but hardly ever on our trips. I am not complaining, but I find it interesting that we have escaped all of our tours unscathed. As we exit the forest, I am reflecting on this fact, when suddenly I hear Beth shout. Right above her head is a big porcupine! We laugh for minutes, and I take a few pictures, but we are not positive he is not going to fall right out of the tree. It is starting to sprinkle, so we abandon our new friend and head back to the building.

Our bus picks us up within minutes, and the trip back is as bumpy as the one there, basically a roller coaster. Once in town, Beth and Sara and I get a table at a little “soda” while the other girls try to find an ATM. The food is okay; I get some spaghetti and a chocolate milk shake – which is more milk than shake. But I am tired and hot, and it is good to me. After dinner, we check out a few tourist shops, and Hannah and I decide to return the next day to find our magnets.

Back at the Cabinas, I walk up to el balcón to see the view at night. It is very windy, so I only stay a minute. I feel proud – I have chosen a great place (okay, the school has chosen a great place). After a few minutes I skedaddle off to my room and climb into bed with Alicia, my roommate for this trip. I set my alarm to take a shower in the morning, and Alicia and I talk until exhaustion takes over. ¡Buenas noches de Monteverde!