Costa Rica > Meeting Jan

It’s the first morning I find it difficult to get up. I decide to stay in bed a little longer and skip breakfast. When I finally go outside, the volcano is fairly visible. From my fellow travelers, I learn that the volcano was completely visible this morning while I was still in bed. At 8:30, we depart for Monteverde. In a straight line, it’s not a long distance, but to reach Monteverde, we have to drive around Lake Arenal. The last part of the route is very rough. The dam was built in 1979. The hydroelectric plant supplies a large part of Costa Rica’s electricity. Unfortunately, the village of Arenal was submerged under the reservoir.

Costa Rica - Meeting Jan in Monteverde

On the shore, a new village, Nuevo Arenal, was built. After Nuevo Arenal, we pass through “Little Switzerland,” a village with only chalets in Swiss style. In Tilarán, the asphalt ends. From there, it’s about 20 kilometers to Santa Elena, the main village in Monteverde. The bus bounces along the winding mountain road. Along the way, we have beautiful views of the lake, and the Arenal volcano rises high above the horizon. To make things even harder for Freddy, it starts raining heavily. Despite all the obstacles, we arrive at the hotel in Santa Elena around 1:00 PM. The hotel is just outside the center. At reception, there’s a note for me. My roommate from the Suriname trip, Jan, is also spending a few weeks in Monteverde to learn Spanish. The reception helps me contact him by phone, and soon I have Jan on the line. We agree to meet at the Tree House restaurant in the center. It’s funny to meet someone familiar again. Jan gives me a tour of the small town of Santa Elena. We visit the hotel of his host family and climb through the hotel’s vegetable garden to the host family’s house.

Costa Rica - A glass butterfly has transparent wings

From the terrace, there is a nice view over the village and surrounding hills. We continue on to the Monteverde Butterfly Garden. Just before entering, it starts to drizzle. Inside, there are beautiful butterflies, but the rainy weather makes it too dark to take sharp photos. When we go back outside, it’s raining heavily. With umbrellas and ponchos, we walk back to the village. Water splashes on the road. We quickly take shelter in Morpho’s restaurant and have a beer. Only then do I notice that my shoes are completely soaked. Jan laughs; he has two pairs of wet shoes drying. It rains here every day, and one eventually gets used to it. Meanwhile, it’s getting dark. At 6:00 PM, all the children of Monteverde gather for the lantern parade in honor of Independence Day. We watch and wait for the procession to start moving. Afterwards, we visit the frog garden, located next to the butterfly garden. A guide shows us the most remarkable frogs. At night, the frogs are most active. He shines a flashlight on them to point them out and to take photos. In the evening, we have dinner with the tour group at the Tree House restaurant. Jan joins us for the meal. Some of the travelers try their luck at the disco, but I decide to go to bed at 10:30 PM.