6/13 -- Transfer to Monte Verde with Boat Trip

Today, we transferred to the Monte Verde area, settled by an intertwined family of 44 Quakers. On the way, we boated on Lake Arenal in the shadow of the volcano, Mt. Arenal, spotting many more birds.

    He had acquired this beauty 14 years earlier from severe mistreatment. These horses are a separate breed, a hybrid of Andelusian and Peruvian Paso and are not at all like a Tennessee Walking Horses, reknown for their smooth gates. The Costa Rican version is trained to high step which looks like dancing and is very stylish. 

Our starting point

Albino and normal bird

This is a good place for wind turbines

Next door to the lunch restaurant there was a horse rescue facility. The owner finds and buys horses that have been mistreated or in danger of being put down. He rehabilitates and resells many of them. He showed us a glorious 29 year old white stallion, Costa Rican Walking Horse

Back on the bus, we headed to Santa Elena and Monte Verde. The area was populated in the 1950’s by Quakers from the US  who had issues with the draft during the  Korean war. The area had been deforested for farming. In the 1970’s, they established the Monte Verde Cloud Forest and the regeneration of trees and other vegetation is impressive. 

The hotel, El Establo,  got started in 1991 as the Quakers traded cattle raising for tourism.  Apparently, early visitors stayed in a stable and the idea grew. Now there are 9 hotel blocks strung along a steep road over a mile long. At the top is a zipline and trails. They provide a shuttle service to cart you back and forth. The walk down is not bad, but uphill would be a challenge.   Our rooms were in Building 7, which they said had a view of the Pacific, which was not evident when we arrived in the afternoon, due to cloud cover.