Monteverde was much as I remembered it, and everyone had a great time.

The town of Santa Elena has some new, very cool restaurants - but the 4 x 4 only road in keeps the Santa Elena and Monteverde reserve protected and from being overrun by tourists. Don’t be fooled - tourists still abound this beautiful land - tourism really keeps the small towns running. But, it truly is ecotourism at it’s finest!

 

After checking in to our 2 bedroom cabin, we headed out for a 2 hour night hike. We saw a two-toed sloth, legs of a turentula, walking sticks, toucans sleeping, and this scary pit viper, shown above.

 

The next day, we woke up early to wolf down a free breakfast, and head to the zip line Canopy tours. The zip lines, made for thrill-seekers, were awesome. Even Kat, with a fear of heights, loved the adrenaline-filled two hour adventure.

 

Afterwards, we walked the SkyWalk - bridges winding through the canopy that offer a slower, yet still daunting, adventure.

 

As we finished up our day in Monteverde, we experienced our first bit of rain of the trip. Not sure how we avoided it so much in the rainy season, in the rainforest, but Kat and Terry have definitely brought sunshine-filled days.