Exploring New Heights in Monteverde and Santa Elena

Monteverde is an interesting combination of calm natural beauty and adrenaline-pumping adventures. Just getting into town is a great example of this, as you wind around on a jarring dirt road, scooting awfully close to the edge of the mountain. I’m not afraid of heights, and even my stomach flipped once or twice.

We reached our hostel in the evening. We only had a day and a half to spend in Monteverde, so we set about planning our activities to maximize our time. The lovely woman at the desk overestimated our Spanish skills and gave us a ton of suggestions in rapid fire, which we dutifully circled on our map.

The next morning we had a delicious homemade breakfast (banana pancakes with coconut syrup, oh my gawd!) and set out for the hanging bridges of the Santa Elena Reserve. Boyfriend doesn’t like heights, so we were starting out easy. Visiting the hanging bridges is a great way to experience the forest at your own pace and to see some of the vegetation up close. We even saw some monkeys chilling up in the trees. There is a slight problem of bottle necking. We were stuck behind a group of elderly tourists for the first part, and sometimes the bridges were slow going. If you’re stuck behind a group, take the opportunity of the paths to jump around them.

Later we explored Monteverde a different way – in the dark. This ended up being one of our favorite parts of Monteverde. Lead by an experienced guide, we carefully wandered around Santa Elena, finding sloths, honey bears, a deadly snake, a tarantula, and lots and lots of bugs. My favorite sighting was a stream of cutter ants carrying bits of leaves to their hill. Seeing hundreds of ants working so purposefully and methodically was fascinating!

There are a couple different night tour companies in Monteverde. The owner of our hostel recommended the Santamaria Night Tour and we loved it. The guides led small groups and each had a walkie-talkie to communicate with the other leaders in case they found something interesting and exciting to share.

By the next morning, Boyfriend had come around to the idea of zip-lining. We both thought that if we didn’t do it, we were going to regret it, so we roused ourselves early to take as much advantage as possible of our last hours in Monteverde.

We had a small group, just us and a family with a young girl. She was fearless! She might even had inspired Boyfriend a little with her quiet bravado. We started off with a Tarzan-swing, which I had never done. It’s optional, but I went for it anyway. Just as I was in position, knees bent, tottering on the edge of the platform, the guide holding my harness, I had some regrets.

“Maybe—“ I started to say, but the guide let go and I was pulled off the platform. That rush towards the ground was terrifying, but the swing back up into the treetops was so much fun! I’d do it again. Probably. Maybe.

The rest of zip-lining was a blast and ended all too soon. Boyfriend said that waiting on the platforms between lines was the worst part, but I enjoyed getting to see the flora up high a little more closely. Our last two lines were over a beautiful valley with a stunning look out over the tree canopy.

After the adrenaline of zip-lining, we decided to calm down with a little ice cream. A lot of delicious foods are grown or made in Monteverde, including coffee, chocolate, and ice cream, and I’d recommend trying them out.

I actually really enjoyed the town of Monteverde. Though there are tour companies a plenty, the town doesn’t seem overrun (like La Fortuna). There were plenty of cute cafes and restaurants, including a restaurant with a tree growing straight up through the second floor, creating the roof with its canopy. We even managed to find a bar with half a dozen pool tables in the basement! (And, as I discovered about an hour in, a ‘discreet’ urinal in the corner for limited game play interruptions. Yikes!)

A day and a half will get in all your essentials at Monteverde, but it was too short of a time to really explore the area. Another half day would have allowed us to explore the Monteverde Reserve. There are less adventure activities in the Monteverde Reserve, but we chatted with an older couple who visit regularly and they said the two reserves are different, despite being so close to each other. Maybe we even could have spotted a quetzal!

But all too soon we were back on that bumpy dirt road, heading down the mountain to La Fortuna.

Have you been to Santa Elena and Monteverde? What did you think? Did fear of heights keep you back from any of the activities?

The road to Monteverde is unpaved – locals decided to do this intentionally once their town became a hot tourist spot. They wanted to limit the number of tourists coming in, so the last hour of our trip was on a jolting dirt road. If you’re the kind of person who gets motion sickness, pack some Dramamine.

We stayed at Cabinas Eddy, an affordable budget hostel. We found the accommodations themselves to be clean and typically hostel-esque, but Freddy and his family were BEYOND helpful and they make a killer breakfast each morning. Now I’m craving those pancakes again…