Costa Rica, Day 4: Arenal to Monteverde

This morning at 10am we began the long (at times unpaved, treacherous) journey to our hotel in Monteverde. We had heard somewhere that the Quaker founders of Monteverde purposely wanted to leave the roads unpaved so as to limit traffic and development.

Our driver and guide let us stop a few times for breaks and to book tours with an agent (surprisingly it has saved us some money). Mostly, our drivers have had us stop at touristy places with souvenir shops, but this time I asked if they could take us to a regular supermarket. I always think it's more interesting to see local things (and often get better deals). And yes, that is how it worked out in this case.

At around 3:00 we finally got to the hotel. The hotel was beautiful and colonial(?), set amongst the forest and idyllic green hills decorated with stone fountains and benches.

5:30-7:30pm - We went on a guided night hike through the forest not far from where our hotel is. It had been billed as a good way to see forest animals... Unfortunately, it was rainy, windy, and muddy... And there weren't a lot of sightings, though the guide definitely had trained eyes, spotting things we'd never see on our own-- some sleeping birds, insects camoflauged as leaves and twigs, a tarantula, possum, and an animal that we thought he said was "pikachu" (tee hee).
Dinner was tilapia and chicken cordon bleu at the hotel restaurant.