Jeep-Boat-Jeep

Waking up early is hard.  I got up at 7 so I could catch my ride to Monteverde at 8:30, but remembered I could catch the 2:30 instead.  Done deal.  After sleeping in I got off my lazy ass and headed into town in search of breakfast.  And I found the pancakes of my dreams at the Rainforest Café (not the same as the ones in the States- far from it).  Banana pancakes with caramelized fruit and syrup that must have been made from some fancy pure cane sugar. Back at the hostel I met up with Nick and we met a couple from Denver who happened to be heading my same direction, Brian and Kristin.  Nick headed back home an hour before our shuttle came.  It took us to Lake Arenal, the reservoir that uses hydroelectricity to power much of Costa Rica.

Right before boarding, I noticed I was still in my flip flops.  Which meant I wasn't wearing my shoes.  Which meant they were still at the hostel in La Fortuna.  Luckily, I speak enough Spanish to get the point across and I told the shuttle driver where they were and where I was going so they could drop them off the next day.  We'll see how that goes.

The boat took about an hour, and we hopped on our other bus when we were back on shore.  What followed was a breathtaking ride through the countryside through the greenest hills and farm country I've ever seen.

The road was bumpy and the going was a little slow, but it made it that much more enjoyable. Along the way our driver suddenly stopped and pointed out a sloth sloth crawling along the power lines. Awesome wildlife sighting #1.  In Monteverde I got dropped off in front of my hostel, $8 a night and I'm going to end up with a private room (so far so good).  Had to deal with a pushy travel booking guy but got my zip line tour set for tomorrow.  Went with Brian and Kristin to a seafood place and watched the USA-Panama game in the Gold Cup, but we lost 1-2.  And here I am, sitting in a street-front window typing away and a couple guys from the Cerro Chato hike walk by, turns out they booked the same zip line time tomorrow. Gotta love this place. Pura Vida.