Monteverde

Monteverde in 23 hours!
Step 1: Hop on a bus with MonteVerde in the front window from San Jose, CR.
Step 2: Wait 3 hours while your bus is broken down, 22 km from your destination.Drink a few beers while waiting. Step 3: Wait some more after the rescue bus breaks down as well!Step 4: Finally get into MonteVerde, secure a $5 room across from the bus station at Hotel MonteVerde.Step 5: Book your activities with 100% Adventura tour group in the same hotel.

Step 6: Later, enjoy a meal at the Tree House restaurant.Step 7: After a good nights sleep, jump in a mini-bus to start your adventure.Step 8: Begin your day with a nature walk. Pay attention while your guide Javier explains everything about plants and animals in the rain/cloud forest.
Step 9: Cross over 12 different suspension bridges.
Step 10: Be amazed by strangler trees.(they surround a kill the tree that used to be in the middle) This is the view up the middle of the tree from the bottom.
And me climbing up and through it to the next suspension bridge.
Step 11: Strap on some zipline/rappeling gear. (Me and Aussie-Helen Gilbert )
Step 12: Have a great time zip lining through the canopies, rappeling downwards and even doing a free-fall tarzan swing. <--VERY fun!!! Don't worry too much that your guides laugh at your technique! :-)Take the obligatory photo with your guide, Carlos.Step 13: After your tour, grab some really good, really quick, 8 minute pizza at Natsha's place two doors down from your hotel before...
boarding your bus back to San Jose.
That's it! MonteVerde in 23 hours. Arrived at 3:30pm, Thursday, January 24 and left at 2:30pm the next day. But boy oh boy...what an adventure!!! Simple, easy and well worth the 5 hour bus ride each way with a 3 hour breakdown-beer break! I highly recommend the trip to MonteVerde, Costa Rica!!

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICANational flag and patriotic citizen.
BUSTED! This guy, John, caught me taking his photo and came up and introduced himself. :-)

Queso Fresco....Again...BUSTED! Check out the guy with behind the counter with the cheese machete!
Can you say, "Lawsuit"?! This would NEVER happen in the USA! People just walking right through the construction zone.
Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica...seems like I'm the "Favorita" of ropa interior!
The National Theatre in San Jose.
View from second story of National Theatre.
Mosaic in an underpass.
The eyes are plates (from China!)
National Park.
And a friend I met there. :-) (who likes ice cream, by the way!)
Costa Rican Grafiti.
Serious Talent!
And how do some feel about war and Mr. George W. Bush???
Well, you can make it out...it says "BUSHIT". Interesting how they get it to look so much like him, huh?Yup! That's Osama above him. Hmmm....welcome to Costa Rica!
It's all good! ¡PURA VIDA!

Off to Monteverde cloudforest tomorrow morning. 6:30am bus! Ciao!

BIENVENIDOS A COSTA RICA! (Via LAS VEGAS, BABY!)Wall Mural inside San Jose, CR airport. (just inside immigration)
Busy downtown San Jose. Check out the two guys sitting up top just checking out life underneath them.
Not looking too bad for having traveled nearly 22 hours! (and cried some tears upon leaving--not too puffy yet!)

However, that's all the photos I have so far. I got to the Costa Rica Backpackers Hostel and crashed! I've only recently gotten up to check email. But am getting tired again and must gear up for tomorrow! I should mention, I traveled straight to Costa Rica via a crazy weekend in Las Vegas for the annual soccer tournament. I'm beat-down tired!

Me and Elvis?! No, it's Miller!Crazy hairy boys! Robert on left (my right) and his middle brother, Jeff.Dinner at the awesome Roma Deli. If in Vegas...it's authentic, excellent Italian. Great squid salad!Gearing up for a night on the town, me and Briana.Jeff, Ian and Robert drinking a well-earned beer after a game.