On the volcano trail

On the volcano trail
Yesterday wasn’t the best of days. Steve had a stomach bug which left him feeling listless, we had a banking incident (too dull to go into but involved a cash dispenser and much wasting of time) , a fruitless drive to a waterfall and I didn’t see a sloth.
On the good side, a quetzal bird just flew across the road in front of us and perched in a tree! In your face Monteverde guide. Also when I needed something to eat last night but Steve felt manky, the guy in the restaurant gave him a homemade herbal tea along with some camomile which really helped Steve feel better. He didn’t even charge for it. Complete star.
So today we began our volcano trail and made tracks to Volcan Tenorio, an area just south of Monteverde. It is an extinct volcano but the area around it has hot springs, a very blue river and rainforest.
As we drove, the sun came out and after a chilly time in Monteverde we were very happy to feel it’s warmth.
Unfortunately as we drew closer to volcan Tenorio the clouds gathered and we were driving along in rain. The temperature dropped dramatically and the view ahead was one of cloud. Great.
Luckily our new abode raised my spirits as it is fit for a princess. Maybe a little feminine for Steve but I love it! Mosquito nets draped around a pretty bed, a rain shower in the bathroom, hammock on the patio – I’ll just stay here and read my book!
However, that’s not what we’re here for, so we dropped off the luggage and hot-footed it to the national park. As usual, a 10km journey takes the best part of an hour. It’s getting very tedious.
The park is mainly rainforest but there is a hike to a very beautiful waterfall. A very muddy hike. People in trainers and sandals were gamely wading in gloopy mud. Glad I packed my hiking boots! No sign of a sloth of course.
On the way back to our B and B we stopped off at a place called the Humming bird Cafe. I’d heard that the food was good and they did a little tour round their grounds. I thought we could check it out for the day after tomorrow. As it happened their tour was due to start imminently so we decided to do it. Straight away we saw a sloth in a tree in the car park. Then we saw another further on which looked up at us. Then another one with a baby and it was on the move! Suddenly from nothing, there was a plethora of Sloths! I was in Sloth heaven! Moral of the story – don’t bother looking for them in the rainforest, they prefer car parks.
On a complete high, we decided to eat at the cafe and that was a good decision too. We had a feast cooked by Julie who was from Bournemouth of all places.
All in all, a surprisingly brilliant day.