Chilly Monteverde

A leisurely start to the day with breakfast at 7.30, after most of the other guests had departed. It had been a breezy night which had kept most of us awake. We followed the Central American Highway which runs from somewhere in Peru to somewhere in Mexico for an hour or so, stopped for coffee and macaw watching. 
Our destination was Monteverde and leaving the main artery after the macaws Fred our driver negotiated steep and narrow mountain roads, passing through impoverished small communities. Most of the houses were enclosed behind robust high railings to protect against local crime. At this point it was still hot and sunny, drying washing took up most of the available iron ware. 
We reached Monteverde at lunch time and it was blowing a hooley. It’s an interesting place right in the centre of the cloud forest, founded by Quakers just after  WW2, attracted by the climate and the fact that Costa Rica abolished its military forces in 1948. Now it’s a main tourist area for extreme sports and its pristine environment. It reminded me of Aviemore, the similar uneasy coexistence of commercialism and nature, at least they don’t have a purple funicular here. We had lunch in a pastry shop and shivered. At coffee time it had been 36 degrees here it was 19 with a very significant windchill factor, our local guide was wearing a woolly hat.
A quick check in at our hotel, a slightly quirky place, freezing, but with hot water, and off to visit a coffee plantation wrapped up in 4 layers. I had no idea the process of coffee production and roasting was so complex.
I am now writing this with pjs on top of clothes including socks. The wind is really strong, unusual for this time of year. Our walk into the cloud forest tomorrow is uncertain, danger of branches and so on falling.
The extra is the view from the coffee place over the lowlands towards the Pacific Ocean where the temperature will be 20 degrees higher. If our walk is cancelled I’m opting for the orchid tour which I’m hoping will be in glass house. It seems extraordinary that pineapples and bananas seem to grow in these variable conditions.