The Brel Chronicles

Today we woke up in a cloud – and could literally see about 10 feet in front of us. So much for the view…Typical tourists, we instinctively planned on paying $$ for the heavily promoted Cloud Forest™, but soon realized the real thing was at our doorstop. We donned our rubber boots (see photo below) and hailed our machete-wielding trail blazer/maintenance guy, and set out for a day hike – mostly uphill [Would you like some cheese with that whine? –B].

Picture it: a flock of Tilley-wearing, grey-haired, book-carrying birders, clinging to their binoculars in search of the resplendent Quetzal (that’s a bird). In the middle of this flock, two 30-somethings dazed from a lunch of beer and pizza, desperately trying to make conversation. [Truth be told, we’ve both become obsessed with crossing off birds in our own ‘Birds of Costa Rica’ book, and Brendan has spouted bird factoids ad nauseum. Particularly impressive is his ability to weave random bird knowledge into seemingly innocuous conversation, as if it were somehow relevant to our discussion about, for example, exchange rates. For the record though, I am kind of proud of our blue-crowned motmot sighting and all of my motmot knowledge…the motmot, otherwise known as a clock-bird…well-known for its colourful mating rituals, etc. –M ]

We´re also seeing lots of monkeys– white faced capuchin and howler monkeys (pictured below). Not sure when the thrill of seeing random monkeys on the streets will wear off, but we’ll keep you posted.

Next up…the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Rather than stomach the pot-hole riddled 5-hour drive from La Fortuna, we opted to travel via horseback, again through the Desafio Adventure Co. Nixon, our guide, an authentic vaquero (cowboy) led us along Lake Arenal, through some of the most beautiful hills and valleys in Costa Rica. And for the first time since our trip began – sunshine! The ride was incredible – and so is the pain, now that our bodies have had time to launch a protest.

We are staying in a cloud forest (literally), at an extremely remote rustic lodge, complete with wood-burning stove in our room (www.miradorlodge.com) . As we are the only guests here, the 55 hectares of private reserve are exclusively ours to enjoy. The staff to guest ratio certainly explained the prices in the “dining room” (think ketchup Bolognese sauce). The view of Arenal Volcano, across the lake, is second- to-none. Luxury, this is not – an authentic cloudforest experience – absolutely.