Monteverde: Sky Walk, Finca Ecologica

26. April: Today we're ready to hit the "Sky Walk" early in the morning. We'd liked the single suspension bridge in Monteverde Cloud Reserve, and Sky Walk consists of a whole collection of bridges, both higher and longer than yesterday's. There are other attractions available (Sky Trek), but these are for adrenaline junkies, involving whooshing over the forest canopy at furious speed holding on to a cable. We were interested in experiencing the forest and didn't fancy the kick of thrill rides at this point.

One of the seven bridges of 'Sky Walk'	On a bridge

Look down the side, dropping 30-50 meters	Jungle art

We take our bus, which is late as usual, and when we reach Sky Walk, we discover that the English couple are there too. We start off, very, very slowly, I'm fascinated at taking stills of small jungle life. There are seven bridges in all, much narrower, but much higher and longer than that at Monteverde. It's great, highly recommended! Take your time and look, you'll see a lot. Don't expect to discover any big or spectacular stuff like monkeys, quetzals or orchids on your own if you're not used to jungle spotting. You'll probably need a guide for that.

That's a large leaf	Looking down from a bridge

We take the bus back, for 1$ per person, along with the English couple. After getting off the bus we went to the bank to change some cash. The English couple is there too (can't believe it). We then go back to our cabin and sleep for some hours.

This bug, missing a piece, looks striking nevertheless	Jungle flowers

Leaf detail	Hairy leaf

Morning dew	What're these?

A floral crab	Jungle Flower

We then take a Taxi to Finca Ecologica (a private farm with trails open to the public), wondering when it would close, since it was getting late. There are several colour-coded trails, we decide on the "blue" trail. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the English couple there again on their way out. They had completed the tour already and said that they did see some animals. We see a Coati Mundi right after we've bought our tickets, the couple has taken out something to eat out of their bags and the animal is sniffing about, hoping to get a bite.

Colourful Centipede	Flashy flower

That's a cute colour combination	Look at the size of those roots

Spiky tree trunk: deters climbing effectively	This leaf-cutter's leaf is way too big

Wonderful Landscape from Finca Ecologica Mirador (lookout)	Tree colours

Natural arch at Finca Ecologica	A feeding Agouti

Inside, we see some Agoutis, a number of "yellow" birds (according to the guide at Monteverde, all of the birds were either "brown" or "yellow"), check out the nice waterfalls and then head back to the ticket office, since the guy there said there was a sloth to be seen. He takes us for a short walk to the sloth, which we NEVER would have found on our own, and uses a laser pointer to indicate it to us.

Finca Ecologica Waterfall	"Almost" fell off the log and into the waterfall
Can you see the sloth? (part 2)	Fluffy, kitsch toilet garb in our room at "Pension Colibri"

We decide to walk back to Santa Elena and discover a nice hotel/restaurant on the way, which offers Pizzas and other Italian fare. We go for Pizza and Garlic bread, but the food looks better than it is (the dough isn't really very good, but hey, Italy's a long way off!).

We walk back to check our e-mail and also to find out where and when the bus to Liberia would leave. We plan to visit the 'Rincon de la Vieja' National Park in the north of Costa Rica and Liberia is the biggest town there from where the tours start. There are two options: 5 am via 'La Irma' and at 6 am taking the bus to 'Puntarenas'. We decide for the 6 am option and buy the tickets. We shop some. Annewien pays the hotel, and says that the house-lady is a very funny person.

It's going to be an early rise the next day!

Continue to 27.4 Liberia