Christmas Eve

I'm rather behind with blipping.  We've been quite busy, and the internet at the hotel in Monteverde was distinctly flaky.

During the morning, we went for a guided walk in the Santa Elena cloud forest reserve. We started with a walk through an area where there was a collection of lots of different orchids, (1st and 2nd extras) and other plants. Then on into the forest itself. The weather had improved markedly, and we appreciated the sun, but it reduced the “cloud” atmosphere - 3rd extra was my best effort at capturing it. Some interesting info, but few successful photos.

After that, we dropped some folk off at the hanging bridges, and some (including W) back at the hotel. 8 of us went zip-lining. I didn’t see a need to buy the photos of me looking hyped terrified.  But can report that I did the full circuit of 9 ziplines, including doing the last 2 in the “superman” position.  But I opted out of the final Tarzan jump.  I’m glad I’ve tried this activity, in the country it originated, but am unlikely to try it again.

The best part, as far as I was concerned, was that our guide spotted the snake featuring in my main photo as we were walking out of the area, and I was able to retrieve my camera from the locker where it had been stored and hurry back to get a photo. It’s a side-striped palm-pit viper. As we were watching it, a humming bird flew nearby – we thought we might see a sad ending, but fortunately he flew away safely.

In the evening our guide once again found a lovely restaurant.