Howler monkeys crossing

We left early for Monteverde, our next stop for 2 nights in the cloud forest. It rained heavily on and off all day, though we spotted blue sky after we got over the continental divide to the Pacific side. We stopped for macadamia coffee (an espresso shot, macadamia liqueur, frothy milk and a sprinkling of macadamia nuts) which cost $5US each. Delicious! While sipping it we saw a lovely green humming bird.

After we left the tarred road which ran round Arenal Lake, we reached a rough gravel road heading up into more open countryside which had cattle farms and coffee plantations. These are not owned by big foreign companies. Instead local small farmers or cooperatives own them and Nicaraguans are employed to pick the beans. There was a lot of evidence of the aftermath of the earthquake and storms which occurred 6 weeks ago - mud slides, trees down, roads being hastily repaired, houses and cars destroyed. Things are being put right very quickly as tourism is so important here.

We stopped for a canopy bridge walk where we viewed the cloud forest from above. We didn’t see much wildlife apart from a family of howler monkeys in the trees around us. There was a 2 month old with them. Our hearts were in our mouths as it tried to leap from branch to branch. Eventually the parent led it down to the cables of the bridge we were on and over to the other side. It was fascinating to watch. Even more interesting was hearing the howl which was very fierce and loud, like a wolf with a bit of pig!

After checking in we left for a cloud forest night walk. It was interesting but we didn’t see nearly as many critters as we did in Ecuador. We did see a crested owl which the guide was happy with as it was only the second in 8 years he’d seen. However he didn’t spot it first - one of our group did. Not me of course. I’m always last to see anything. We also saw a tarantula, the biggest here, a spider, a grasshopper, 2 tiny frogs and a young snake and a fully grown green viper.

Our lodge here is lovely, set in cloud forest. We are in a little wooden cabin - the rain is very loud on the tin roof. The first 800 metre stage of a long zip wire complex runs just above our cabin. We saw some people rattling down it, screaming.

Sad update on the accident on the river - a tree smashed the boat in half. A 25 year old Russian woman was killed instantly when the tree crashed down on her, and another person was seriously injured. Others have minor injuries.