New Year's Eve & New Year in the Cloud Forest and the Eco Ranch in the Jungle

After arriving in Monteverde, we decided to explore the town first and spontaneously booked a hanging bridges tour for the next day.

For those who know my fear of heights, they know that I didn't think ahead again 😅

We spent New Year's Eve in a cool restaurant called "The Treehouse" which was built around a giant tree. We had beer and pizza (we just felt like it and it was really delicious) and enjoyed the evening. Since there wasn't much hype about New Year's Eve here and we had already received many New Year's greetings, we were overwhelmed by tiredness quite early. Yes, we actually overslept on New Year's Eve 😂

So we started the New Year's morning somewhat rested and without a hangover to explore the cloud forest.

But before that, yes, before that, we had to try a coffee. Since we discovered so many cute little coffee shops in the town the night before, we had to try them out.

So we ended up at Choco Caffee which had a super delicious coffee and a house cat.

Strengthened, we set off for our hanging bridges tour where we also encountered canopy and other things. The circular path led over 8 huge hanging bridges which, in terms of construction (with holes in the floor and huge), couldn't have been worse for me, but we were rewarded with breathtaking nature and beautiful views. And ultimately also with another sloth - this time a different one from the one we saw in Manuel Antonio National Park. 🦥

After about 2 hours, we were on our way back and took the opportunity to sign up for a night walk.

Until then, we went back to the town of Santa Elena (discovered another great café) and visited Taco Taco, which offers delicious burritos and tacos).

So we started the night walk well rested. We were a little nervous because we had never gone searching for animals in the evening before. The last night tour was more about stars and the universe 😊

So we went into the forest with a small group (9 people in total), equipped with flashlights and our guide Michael.

Right from the start, he pointed out to us to watch out for things hanging down because you never know what it is - well hello 😂

The two-hour tour enriched us with fun (Michael's laughter is incomparable), a tarantula, a viper (we still haven't figured out exactly what kind), one of many red-eyed tree frog species, an agouti in a tree, sleeping birds, and another sloth that was relatively active. It probably slept for hours afterwards.

So when you're here, we can really recommend such a night tour, it was really fun and exciting to go searching.

The next day, we set off early towards the Arenal area because due to our "regular" car, we preferred to take the safer route around the lake.

On the way, we stopped at a coffee shop with a view of the lake, where the best macadamia banana muffins are said to be. The view had its price, but the muffins were really delicious and we still haven't finished the macadamia nut 😂 Thomas still needs to eat a little more spinach.

The destination of the trip is Rancho Margo, which operates an organic farm and aims to produce everything themselves in the future. The ranch is in the middle of the rainforest and is huge, and we already feel comfortable when we arrive. Originally, we had booked a room in the "Bunkhouse", but on the way there, we had already considered asking for an upgrade to the bungalows 😅 having our own shower and a bit more space for the next 3 nights was really nice for us.

First, we wanted to take a look at the ranch and the bunkhouse before making the decision 😉 so we walked around the 61-hectare site a bit and got an impression. Ultimately, we chose the bungalow, which is huge with a terrace and a view of the rainforest. Of course, we have photos for that 🤪

During the walk around the grounds, we ended up at the piglets, where an employee immediately picked us up to show us the piglets that were born today (02.01.). And he didn't promise too much. Sooooo many little babies 🥰 Their eyes were still closed, but they were already very active because they were looking for their mother. However, the mother was separated from them because within the first week, she tries to kill her babies.

The mother was visibly exhausted, and oh my god, she was fat 😂

After the tour, we were already excited about the two-hour ranch tour they offer to gain more insight into the work.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner (we always book full board here) and fell into bed exhausted.

If it weren't for the attempt to properly attach the mosquito net over the bed. We thought it wasn't necessary for it to be completely closed until a huge creature hung over my head in the middle of the night. Perspectives differ - I still believe it was a huge spider, but Thomas thinks it was a mosquito. Whatever it was - it was huge, disgusting, and since then I sleep with one eye open and always check that the net is closed 😂

The next morning, we first went to the morning yoga by the river, enjoyed a rich fresh breakfast, and then went on the ranch tour.

Stefanie, who led the tour, guided us through the entire grounds and told us more about the owner, the story behind it all, and all the work.

We are truly impressed by the concept of trying to reuse any waste, how much thought goes into it, and how much Juan has built up here in the past 15 years. Everything is structured in a way that helps the growth of something else in some way.

It's worth a visit and an overnight stay for anyone traveling to Costa Rica! We can recommend it 100% and would do it again.

We ended the rest of the day with a short hike with a view of the volcano and relaxation. It's a great place to be!

Today (Saturday), after the morning yoga, we decided to visit the area with the car and the nearest town, La Fortuna. In addition, we wanted to look for a coffee tour that is not as touristy as the offers we encounter everywhere here.

Thomas (an employee at the ranch) roughly knew the location of the coffee tour, but unfortunately, he didn't remember the name anymore.

In La Fortuna, we first noticed a guy who was clearly interested in our car. So we ended up in a coffee shop (yes, we like to drink coffee 😉) across the street to observe the guy further. So we enjoyed a delicious coffee and watched people. It almost sounds like my dad 😂

In the end, he probably didn't find anything he could steal from our car and then got into a white bus.

We didn't feel comfortable anymore, so we immediately decided not to stay there any longer and went to look for the coffee tour.

When we arrived, it looked more like a garage, but the owner immediately came to us and was super friendly. He also immediately gave us the advice to go to the Arenal National Park today because the weather looks relatively good for the area.

So we postponed the tour until tomorrow and then set off for Sarapiqui.

So we went to the Arenal Volcano National Park, which has a few trails in the rainforest around the inactive volcano where we saw a pit viper (we believe), a coatimundi, and last but not least and that was the highlight, three toucans - awesome!!!

So we end another exciting day in Costa Rica and are looking forward to tomorrow's coffee tour 😎