Getting ready for my trip to Monteverde , Costa Rica.

Arrived Liberia. 3 hour back roads mountainous drive to glorious Monteverde. \240 Night walk in rain forest with full moon was glorious. And dinner at Senda hotel with two British friends was special. \240

Sky adventure above the treetops

Visited a Monteverde Friends School next to the ice cream factory and walk thru Marian’s friend Micki’s portal to heaven at Marian’s new house. \240Gorgeous trees and bushes and unfamiliar animals \240everywhere \240you turn. Take \240a \240look at the critters we found in friend Marian’s rear yard in Monteverde. More adventures await for me for Wednesday !!!!

Morning at Don Juan’s coffee, chocolate and sugar cane tour. Loved sugar cane drink with tangerine juice. \240Can’t get it anywhere because it cannot be transported without fermenting. Great refreshing taste. \240Never made chocolate before. \240 Delish ! \240And did you know light coffe beans have more caffeine than dark. \240 Espresso therefore has less caffeine than typical Americano coffee but it also has much less coffee aroma. Who knew?

Making chocolate from the cocoa plant. \240Amazing process. \240The Mayans actually invented this process .

Sugar cane juice is squeezed from the stalk. \240Amazing how much liquid comes from one stalk. \240Here’s the process. \240Mixed with tangerine juice it is so delicious and refreshing.

Today (Feb 21) I had lunch with Marian at Cabure Argentinian restaurant and again was treated to a chocolate manufacturing talk with Marian’s friends Bob . \240His process avoids the adding of chemical agents to the process thereby preventing the majority of healthy anti oxidants from dissipating. \240He is onto something but it is a more costly process than anything Cadbury might consider. \240But I just looked out from my porch and saw a family of long tailed somethings running by. \240What are they ?

Meeting the day after tomorrow with Jeff Hall and his wife Carol to explore the Cloud Forest Reaerve. ( Higher than any other rainforest walk I’ve been on so far). Jeff did a wonderful film a few years ago showing the experience of Costa Rica that Marian facilitates for Bank Street students who enroll in this life changing science experience. This country is small yet it actually contains four different eco systems to study and learn from. \240They are:

4 ecosystems in one country

1.Marine

2.Dry forest

3.Cloud forest

4.Rain fores

Watch Jeff’s Vimeo. Ideology to see what Bank Street students come here every July!

The link is https://vimeo.com/222114455

Watching the sun set on Joe and Jean’s glorious dairy farm. Baby calf says hi. \240And watch the video of Joe showing us how to pick ripe bananas from a tree . All he used was a pen knife. \240So much happening in Marian’s Monteverde !

Today was a day I will remember for the rest of my life. We hiked above Marian’s rain forest to the cloud forest. \240 As contrasted with \240the deciduous forests I know in the US with Maples, Oaks and maybe Beech trees, here you have a cacophony of trees and epiiphytes growing from below and above. its almost too overwhelming ! What feels like rain is not rain. \240It is condensation on the millions of different leaves packed with water creating a magical environment that is hard to describe. \240And the sounds are beyond real. Our guide Ricky Guinden was raised here and his Dad ‘Wolf’ was an original cattle farmer (circa 1960)who stumbled upon the harsh reality that his sawing down trees for pasture land was destroying one of the most precious study sites \240for environmental sustenance. \240Ricky now researches the effects of climate changes across all the life zones and has created data bases of bird appearances and changes evident due to warming trends up the levels of rainforest and cloud forest. Must read ‘ A walk with Wolf ‘ to find out the whole story. \240And on the way to the Continental Divide at the apex of our four hour hike we encountered the cherished Resplendent Quetzel Bird and gorgeous hummingbirds and many others. I will never forget today.

After breakfast at the casita Marian, Micki and I \240walked the roads to meet with Carol and Jeff Hall at the bat museum led by Marian’s dear friend and creator of the museum Richard. \240I am not enamored \240with bats but learned a lot about their vital importance , and variety.

After breakfast Marian, Micki and Jeff Hall and his partner Carol spent the morning at the bat museum led by Marian’s dear friend Richard who founded the museum years ago. \240I am not a bat fan but found it fascinating. Below are photos of yesterday’s walk to the butterfly museum a day after our amazing trek above in the thick of the cloud forest. \240That was about a five mle trek up to the Continental Divide where you see the wild clouds and wind rushing up from the Caribbean side and the quiet flow of air going down to the Pacific. \240From that point all cloud mist/ rain flows down \240to one or the other side. \240 Nature is remarkable.

On board , heading home . \240Loving every moment !