Onwards to our next adventure action adrenalin town of Monteverde. Leaving the hotel at 8.30 am in the missy drizzle, the heavens decided to open just as we were to leave our van and walk down a soon to be muddy and slippery track with our bags to board the boat at 9 am. This wet weather was short lived as we waited for more people to arrive, the sun came out!

The hour’s trip across Lake Arenal felt like sailing in the Marlborough Sounds except this lake felt like it was a bit wider than the Sounds drowned valleys.

Lake Arenal is an artificial lake in Costa Rica, located in the northern highlands of the country. It was enlarged to its present size as a part of a 1979 hydroelectric project by the Costa Rican government to provide electricity to the country. Thanks Mr Wikipedia.

Waiting for the van to arrive, we heard that we could be several hours late getting to Monteverde due to road works. The road trip was great as it felt like home with the winding dusty road climbing the steep and if I may say so beautiful hillside. The landscape felt like the rugged King Country. With a wind farm being built I suppose it could have been in the Manawatu region. It took an hour and a half to get to the small town of Santa Elena which was established by American Quakers in the 1950's. Thankfully we were not held up by the road works.

Monteverde, Costa Rica is a small town in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, located in the Cordillera de Tilarán. Roughly a four hour drive from the Central Valley, Monteverde is considered a major ecotourism destination in Costa Rica. The area is host to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and numerous other reserves, which draw considerable numbers of tourists and naturalists. Thanks Mr Wikipedia.

An orientation walk down to the Defasio office to book our tours. Monkeys were in the trees behind their office waiting to be fed with bananas.

The picture of the Beringer wine seen in a local supermarket reminded me of my visit not too many weeks ago to this winery in the Napa Valley. Converted price wise, this bottle of 2008 Pinot Noir is selling for NZ$ 65 or US $ 57.

A late lunch at Orchid Restaurant as we will not be having dinner till after 8 pm. Firstly it was a cup of the Café Tradicional - Costa Ricans style coffee for C$1,400 . NZ $ 3.40 / US $ 2.80. See the pictures as to how it is made. Then to eat it was a Pavo Panini o Pita which is turkey breast, cheese, pesto, tomato, avocado and lettuce. C$ 4,900 / NZ $ 12.00 / US $ 9.90 + the 23% tax!