Monteverde and the Cops

We left Tamarindo and headed for Monteverde on Friday morning and had a crazy drive up into the mountains. Stop wondering about the cops part and pay attention, this part is cool too. Imagine the bumpiest road you can for two hours, the kind of bumpy that makes your stomach churn, the jack rattle loose from its mounts under the seat of your rental car, and your vision first blur and later get those weird little sparky things in the corner of your eyes. For me, the excitement of pretending to be a rally driver was enough to keep me going. For Emily, it was the prospect of entering the lands of coffee. The mountainous highlands of Costa Rica are famous for their shade grown coffee that they sell to Starbucks, of which there are none as far as we know of in Costa Rica.

First stop, Belacruz coffee shop/gift shop/bird watching sanctuary/home of the nicest people on the planet. They fed us, showed us birds, translated difficult Spanish words into English with a dictionary and gave us 3 great recommendations for hotels complete with maps and the traditional "Con mucho gusto!", roughly translated "with pleasure!" I liked the empanadas, Emily loved the coffee. We successfully got a picture of a hummingbird.

We stayed at Sunset Hotel, run by an uber-friendly German named Klaus who was filling in for the owners while they were on vacation. Klaus has traveled the world, has bright eyes and a firm grip, and calls you by your first name. As long as you don't beat around the bush - ever - you're going to like Klaus. Our towels were folded in the shapes of a swan and a fan. I got the fan.

So what's in Monteverde? It's really a few sleepy towns at the end of a horrific road with nature reserves, canopy trekking, ziplines, coffee, and some serious gift shops. We hiked in the reserve towards dusk and got immediately lost. That's not fair, we got steadily lost as daylight faded. We think the caretakers are a little sick - they provide brightly colored, well marked maps of trails that start with matching colors corresponding to the map. As soon as you are far enough into the woods to be disoriented, you encounter multiple intersections with no signs or colors. Then the colors change, purple for blue, green for yellow... before you know it, tarantulas are salivating over your sweaty panicky self. We got out by going the opposite direction of signs pointing towards the information office. That was after it took 4 circles to realize we were going in circles. The place was beautiful, however, and I found the ants as fascinating as Emily found the coffee beans growing in their natural state.

We took a canopy tour and ziplined the next morning. Incredible! It was really high, really fast, and really... safe? The guides had radios, first aid kits, we were clipped in to standards acceptable in no less than 4 countries, and we never really touched any of the equipment or got stuck or had any problem whatsoever. It was a little eerie, but you really had nothing to do but enjoy the incredible views whizzing by as you zip over canyons, through forests and down mountainsides. Like 4 G's, 500 feet down, and half-mile long ziplines. Skytrek tours, everyone. I think someone chipped a toenail in '97 or they would have a plaque from the International Safety Federation for their perfect record.

We arrived in Monteverde wondering what a cloud forest is - what, never heard of one? "Cloud forest - A wet, tropical forest, often near peaks of coastal mountains and at an altitude usually between 1,000 and 2,500 meters, that is characterized by a profusion of epiphytes and the presence of clouds even in the dry season." We were at the right height, and exactly the right humidity, but I swear we never saw an epiphyte the entire time. There are Quakers that supposedly founded the area, and we saw a couple people who looked Protestant, but I don't think that's even close.

We said goodbye to Klaus and our breakfasts as we trounced back down the more-pothole
-than-road ... road and hit the highway. (This is the cop part). After a ride that slow, I hit the gas and rolled through a speed trap at 99km/h, whatever that is. It sounds faster than it is, but the cops were serious about it anyway. Apparently there was a town or something hidden in the woods, and it was a slow area. The friendly but firm officer wrote us a ticket for 55,000 colones (that's MORE than it sounds like) and took my license, suspending it for six months. I explained to him that a driver's license issued by a government with recognized diplomatic ties to his nation can't be suspended with pre-approval from said government as it is a right conferred by the citizen's government and thereby irrevocable. Of course he didn't buy it and wrote a ticket. Then Emily explained that we were leaving the country the next day and we couldn't possibly be in court the following week to get my license back. That made him pause, and he talked the matter over with his colleague. After much hemming and hawing, they decided to tear up the ticket for a couple of Cokes (international currency). Of course we didn't have any Cokes, but when they asked again with a knowing look, a couple of Cuban cigars seemed to make them really happy.

So now we're back in San Jose, license in hand and trying to organize ourselves for the jump to South America. We bumped into a couple of fellow Portlanders, Deb and Barb, who we met a week ago and just happened to be back in San Jose at the same time. They moved down to Costa Rica this week and are headed to Monteverde for a permanent stay. We relayed our story about the police here thinking it would be helpful, and hopefully we'll bump into them back in the Northwest when we're all up that way.

Speaking of new friends, we want to say hi to some new ones we made in San Juan del Sur during those less pleasant times - V and E, if you're out there, we salute you. You guys were the highlight of Saint John for sure-hope Ometepe is treating you well! They are a couple of South Africans spending a whopping year on the road, doing an around the world tour - with surfboards. See all the cool people you meet on the dusty trail?

See you all in South America.