Monteverde

Staying at the hostel here is cheap! We pay about $24/night for a private room with a delicious breakfast in the morning. The hostel is run by a small family who are very helpful when trying to plan activities.

Monteverde is little adventure packed town full of backpackers and famous for zip lining, bungee jumping and the cloud forest (because of the altitude).

Recommend by the Hostel we booked into the Extremo Zip Line tour. A short drive on rugged dirt roads we arrive at the private property and get suited up with all the harnesses and safety gear. A few of the helmets already had go pro mounts which worked out well for Suki. After a brief safety induction we commence the zip lining starting off on the beginner trails. After a few smaller zips, we start travelling upto 1km across the valley with amazing panaramic views. The zip lines get faster and longer as we go.

At one point we try a massive 'tarzan' swing with a 10m freefall sending you high into the treetops. The highlight was the 1km superman zip line (attached by a harness on your back) which you fly across the valley at an impressive pace.

After a quick afternoon snooze at the hostel we took a drive to the turnoff for the 'Strangler Fig Tree'. A quick 5m downhill hike to and we approach a massive hollowed-out fig tree forming an internal spiral staircase. Putting our claustrophobic fears to one side, we started climbing to the top squeezing inbetween the branches in places. Once at the top, the view was worth the climb!

For dinner we decided to go for the authentic option and eat at a soda (cheap local cuisine). After a massive feed, we got picked up for a forest night tour. Our guide was very passionate taking the time to get to know us and explain all the animals along the way. Tonight was an exceptional night where we were able to see a tarantula, 2-toed sloth, green viper snake, 2 scorpions making love, possum, endangered anteater, 2 different toucans, and a hummingbird. Suki was pissed that the sloth just hangout in the tree and looked nothing like the one in 'Ice Age'. Interesting fact: a sloth takes a dump only once a week and will lose 1/3 of their body weight.

Big day and we were spent when we got back to our hostel. Back on the road tomorrow to La Fortuna.Read more