Monteverde, Costa Rica

Our arrival in Costa Rica, and more importantly Monteverde, was very special to me and my time in Costa Rica was one of the most important things I was planning for my trip. This was because, as many of you will know, I had visisted Costa Rica and Monteverde some 12 yrs previously on a school trip to see how the school's fundraising efforts were being used at the Children's Rainforest Reserve.

It was actually quite strange to be back in Monteverde, not least because the town had changed and grown so much in the 12yrs since I was last there, it actually wasn't until our second day that I truely saw things I remembered from last time.

Our hotel terrace in Monteverde


And on the second night we actually ate in a restaurant I had eaten in 12yrs previously. The restaurant was called Johnny's Pizzeria and the food was just as delicious as it had been the last time I ate there. The below photo shows me and the big Swede enjoying a cheers in the restaurant.

Salud!!


Despite having two nights in Monteverde we only really had one day to explore the town and its surrounding reserves etc. The main activity everyone had planned for Monteverde was to go ziplinning. This involves being strapped onto huge ziplines (very similar to flying foxes) and hurtling through the forest canopy at breakneck speeds. Its a great way to see the flora and fauna of the canopy, and slightly more exciting than merely walking on the hanging bridges.

I have to say at this point it wasn't something that was particularly high on my list of things to do, and as such I decided to go for the slightly less adrenaline fueled activity of visiting an Insect house and Serpentarium at the same reserve.

The insect house houses the world's third largest display of insects, (all dead unfortunately) and was infact incredibly interesting. As no one else went on the tour with me it was a one to one tour with the guide, and I learnt a great deal.

Beautiful butterflies


Albino butterflies, I didn't even know these existed

There were some amazing insects on display, the kind of thing even in the Costa Rican rainforest you very rarely get to see. The below bad boys were two of the largest insects on the planet, the stick insect (or walking stick as they are known out here) was about 40 to 50cm long, and the chap next to him is actually caught and eaten as a meal in its native Africa.

Meals and walking sticks

Huge butterflies

As always though my personal favourites were the displays of scorpions and tarrantulas. They were amazing.

Look at the size of that African Emporer...

...And those hairy buggers too

Immediately after the insect house I had a tour of the serpentarium too, which was again amazing. This time the inhabitants were alive... which is always more fun.

Sydney snake

The snakes below were called Fer-de-lance's, they are the most dangerous snakes in Central and South America as they are among the most poisonous and also the most aggressive.

Fer-de-lance's

The snake below is called the Eyelash Pit Viper, and it's nickname is the death kisser. This is due to the fact it is known to bite workers in the coffee plantations in the face. Nice.

The Eyelash Pit Viper


Another little Sydney snake

Whilst on the tour I was also taught how to quickly identify whether a snake is poisonous or not. It is all to do with the shape of the eyes and the number of scales on the head. Now in my eyes, if your close enough to a snake to check these things you're also close enough for it to bite you.... I've decided to just assume all snakes are poisonous, I think it's safer that way!

All in all it was a very informative afternoon, and I feel I've now passed some of my knowledge onto you people too.