Boy, am I glad I let the folks at Desafio talk me into doing the class III/IV instead of the II/III Rio Balsa. We ran into people who did that and they said there was one rapid at the beginning and smooth sailing after that. Our river wasn't overly rough, but it was a perfect combination of mellow and crazy. Ethan and I had a blast and that kid chuckled so hard every time I got soaked. In fact, we both laughed quite a bit during the ride, perenially open-mouthed. I kept wondering how much bacteria we were ingesting, but we survived. :)
In the middle of the ride, we got to stop and swim in the water and we ate the yummiest pineapples I've eaten since forever. Since they are grown there, the pinas can be allowed to ripen properly. Yum!
On the trip home, Ethan was so exhausted he fell asleep on my lap. This whole sleeping on my lap was getting to be a new "bad habit" for the growing boy. Hahaha!
Day Four: Travel from La Fortuna to Monteverde via Boat, Horse, then Van
To go from La Fortuna to Monteverde, we opted for a quick boatride on the lake, followed by a two and a half hour horseback ride, then on to a two-hour van ride. The boat ride was quick and beautiful. The horseback part was long, but we had a great time. The guides spoke more Spanish than English so I got to practice a lot with both guides. On the way, we even got to see a small viper. After we had all gawked at the snake for a bit, our main guide was kind enough to share that that particular snake was so poisonous that one bite would kill the horse I was on, never mind me. Yikes! Ethan did struggle with his horse for a bit until one of the guides gave him a little stick to egg that little sucker on. His name was Payaso and Ethan really hated that clown. Once we got off the horses, we took a van to Monteverde. Since the roads in Monteverde are mostly unpaved and there were SO MANY potholes everywhere, the ride was quite long. But it was fun because we had a great driver who let me practice a lot of my broken Spanish with him. There were so many people on the trip that Ethan and I had to split up seats; I sat in front and he sat in the back. He didn't get to nap on the ride at all. I think that traumatized him. :)
We loved Monteverde. The temperature was cooler than La Fortuna and the town was a little bit bigger. We enjoyed trekking 15 minutes from our hotel down into town. There, we discovered what we lovingly referred to as "our" restaurant. Restaurante Maravilla, where we enjoyed the yummiest meals of our entire trip. It was so good, we went back twice. After we leave Monteverde, I've started to daydream about owning a home here (I will be bugging Rodney about this endlessly, I know this now - sorry babe).
This adventure to be continued...
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