Laowai

We just returned from a vacation to Costa Rica. 

We flew into San Juan and then drove to the mountains – to Monteverde and its cloud forest. 

On the first day we hiked all around the the Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. The rainforest was fascinating and a little intimidating. It's so dense and wet and different from the forests that I know. And I'm also always thinking that I'm walking through a forest of houseplants – I mean I recognize so many plants that we keep in pots. 

We had some sunshine but during our walks it seems like it was mostly cloudy and we could not see far.

Later we walked into the town of Santa Elana. The road signs made Claire and I a little leary.

Brian was happy to find a little local brewery (above). Claire got to practice her Spanish speaking a little. Here she is in our hotel – more like a hostel. It rained every night – it was loud on the roof but it sounded nice. I went down to the restaurant's outdoor balcony early in the morning. I sat outside and there were hummingbirds flying around.

On our last day in the cloud forest we went for a more difficult hike to an area with many waterfalls. 

It was very wet and I was worried when we set out that we would all be miserable and soaked. But it turned out ok – we were wet but the rain stopped and it was never cold. 

This hike was sort of the opposite of a mountain hike – we hiked down a steep trail for a long time to reach the waterfalls and then we hiked up steeply to finish the hike. There were several bridges at the bottom that made the hike fun. 

You could choose to ride horses for the last uphill part of the hike. 

It felt a bit like our Swiss hikes when we saw some sweet cows.

We finished the hike and had a nice lunch at the area's restaurant. 

These last few photos Brian took when he went for a run and then one final shot as we drove out of the mountains.