The End of the Road

This morning we awoke to to Coatimundis at the back door.  Cousin of the raccoon.  The owner of our small hotel feeds them so they were quite tame and very inquisitive.  FYI There are also raccoons in Costa Rica but these guys are way cuter...(how about that for linguistic high jinks).  

Our morning adventure was a hike in the cloud forest.  I didn't realize that what is considered cloud forest is actually rainforest except at a higher elevation.  Gunnera is endemic to this forest but the local version of the plant doesn't have spiky bits.  Strange because the plant we have in North Amerca (and Europe for that matter) is nasty.  The leaves of the Costa Rica plant can be picked and used as umbrella.   

And, it is misty and moisty up at the top of the forest canopy.  I say that because we were able to walk over the canopy as the reserve has many suspension bridges and a mega zipline which I intend to try out before I leave.  Couldn't get MG to go with me so I'll find somebody from the school (a kid?) to do it and scream with me.

A tree with the back end of a sloth, nestled in the crook of the branch, asleep which they do most of the time.  

And, birds.  I briefly saw a Quetzal flying through the forest and we saw baby hummingbirds in their nest.

But...we still hadn't been to the village of Monteverde so after our tour we asked a taxi driver to take us to the Escula des Amigos.....wow!  3 Klms away from crazy St Elena is a different world.  Quiet, mellow, aesthetically pleasing surrounded by forests, kids on bikes and a Whole Foods store (not the chain) in the village.

And, best of all is the Friends School. At the end of the road, friendly and welcoming. This is where I will be for the next six weeks.  It has a huge library and a new Meeting House plus the actual school building seen below is open, light and cheery.  I move there tomorrow after I see MG off down the hill to San Jose.