Monteverde - No more touristy

Since we decided to skip the extremely overpriced Arenal National Park, we went straight to Monteverde on Monday. That was actually the plan, and so we were at the bus stop at eight o'clock sharp. But as often happens, the times on the internet were not correct and the bus had already left at 7:30. By chance, we stumbled upon a second way to Monteverde, namely Jeep-Boat-Jeep. This was more expensive, but it was really worth it. The Jeep turned out to be a small bus, but all in all, the trip was even 3 hours shorter than with the public bus.

In Monteverde, we came across a nice little hostel that we immediately liked. When we checked in, it was only half past twelve, so we went to the Monteverde Hanging Bridges in a national park in the afternoon. It took only one hour through the national park, and we had to pay 35 dollars for the tour. That was an expensive walk, but nothing more. Discouraged, as this tour already cost a lot and the others were not much cheaper, we decided to continue the next day.

But things turned out differently. Someone had moved into our room in the meantime. Janine, a German traveler. She rented a car for Costa Rica and offered to take us with her. We discussed all of this over a cocktail at the Treehouse Restaurant, which is one of the 10 most extraordinary restaurants in the world. The location was incredibly beautiful and since the owner of the hostel accompanied us, we knew where we were allowed to go.

The next morning, we set off, strengthened by the good breakfast (pancakes and fruits), first to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. With this, we were able to negotiate a student discount, and so we got a National Park bargain for 10 dollars. In Costa Rica, all tourist tours are extremely overpriced. When we entered the park, it started to rain, but we didn't let that get us down and enjoyed our time there. In the end, a stray dog followed our car for five kilometers until he finally gave up. Really crazy, you only experience something like this here.

With high spirits, we finally left Monteverde for lunch, which personally disappointed us immensely. Everything was incredibly expensive for the little that was offered. We longed for more sun and the beach. But the planned 4-hour drive turned into more than 7. But we didn't know that yet when we left Monteverde behind us.