Category: Costa Rica Travel Tips

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got the perfect outfit: you know the one I’m talking about, that dress that fits perfectly, with those lacy sandals and that light cardigan. I’m all set.
There’s a Coffee House tonight, and the emotions are running high. For those of you who are new to the area, Coffee Houses have come to form the backbone of Monteverde social life for the Quaker community. Here’s what you need to know: there are about five or six of them a year, they are generally put on by the high school students at the Monteverde Friends School, they are basically open mic nights with homemade pizza and dessert, and the funds go towards graduations or end-of-the-year field trips. Anyway, I’m ready.
That’s when you hear it: the drizzle picks up, the wind bellows just a little bit louder. Upon stepping outside you realize that those lacy sandals won’t even take you to the car, and that dress will leave you shivering all night. Sudden changes in weather are a common complication on this mountain, but never fear; us locals have a handy trick up our sleeve. Rubber boots are in for the win. Keep the dress, pull on some leggings underneath, and slip into those black, warm, and, most importantly, waterproof rubber boots, and shimmy on out the door. While it might be an understandable concern elsewhere to go to an evening out in those clunky boots, but this is a special place.
Just as soon as you arrive, and head over to get that juicy slice of pizza you’ve been craving all day, you’ll realize that everyone’s wearing them! “Monteverde Fashion” we call it, and honestly we find it quite cool. So, if you want to be like the cool kids, slip into those boots and come to Square Dance! (Oh, yeah, that’s another Quaker social you wouldn’t want to miss!)

Amazing how a piece of wood changes from found in the cloud forest to many years later transformed in a nice bathroom counter. Yes, cutting wood for construction is not anymore anything we should do in our over populated planet. So extra lucky we find a piece as this. Fallen in the year 2000 and laying in the back shed for 15 years in a shape looking pretty usefulness for anything and I bet anybody would have said, let it rot… as a collector of “garbage” as I grew up with my parent taught me still that there is nothing that cannot be useful for something. So a week ago I decided the bathroom sink in the TreeTop Studio has to be changed and found this piece sitting in the back of the shed and in one blink I knew this has the perfect shape of what it is for… locals could never tell me what type of wood it is as the carpenters were not happy working on this wood as hard as stone … so for many years to come our guests will be amazed by this masterpiece in transformation of the Cloud Forest. Another time we had found a fallen tree in our fields where the horses are grazing. They actually delivered the wood exposing it to us after several grazing time around the tree trunk. We were able to get many cuts out of it. Locals call it here “gallettas” (cookies – because of their shape). So far quite a few tables were made of it. It goes slow, because the wood is as hard as some stone and takes much patience to work it.

While a few years ago we had here in Monteverde, in the famous coffee region of high altitude coffee, nowhere to get some coffee after a meal, or just go have some dessert. Now, however, there are so many sprouting in the area that as a visitor it is difficult to choose which one to visit during a 2 day stay here. Most likely wherever you end up, you will be pleased with your choice, because the coffee is just great in Monteverde. The only one in town for a pit stop coffee is BESO ESPRESSO. Here you get the feel that you are in a busy italian little town and stop by for a quick espresso or any other coffee specialty. Then there are a few upscale coffee shops with very good quality desserts and lunches. One of them is Café Orchidias, suitable for 2 to 4 people at the time; if you are a small group or big family you might be better off at Choco café, who also has great homemade chocolates.
If you are staying in the area of town closer to the Monteverde Reserve, and don’t want to drive back to Santa Elena, your best choice of food and coffee is Stella’s bakery. This is the longest settled coffee shop in Monteverde’s Quaker area. Across the street from Stella’s is the Monteverde Coffee Shop, which opened recently and also has amazing coffee and pastries. Another upscale coffee shop in the Cloud Forest is Cabure. The best part here is the awesome terrace with beautiful views of the surrounding area. There are many more little coffee shops, either connected to the tour company you had an activity with, or simply small family run businesses. All of them are worthwhile visiting.

* BESO EXPRESSO fell victim in 2020 due to the pandemic – comment added in 2/2021

Monteverde, over the last ten years, holds a stable climate. However, if you are looking at a yearly period it is slightly unpredictable, meaning that the “seasons” (rainy season, dry season, windy season, etc.) don’t necessarily arrive when expected. Looking at a daily weather report, we have a prediction and a forecast, which isn’t really reliable. Sometimes the day starts out with rain and gets sunny throughout the day, other days we are surprised by wind or too much sun all together. Fog moves magically in our region and like a switch it is there and with another switch, it is simply off again.
Our guests want to know how the weather will be in the “Monteverde Cloud Forest”. So what do we say? There is no way of telling, one can merely predict and speculate. Part of the beauty Costa Rica holds lies in the five drastically different climate zones that are located in this miniature country. We are a a small piece of land between North and South America; a small piece of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This leads to an island-like climate, meaning weather is unstable and can change in the blink of an eye. This also influences how Ticos (Costa Rican people) live: one day at a time, what will come, will come and we’ll have to meet it when it does: Pura Vida! That is one of the reasons why tourists love to come to Costa Rica. If you come with this attitude to visit Costa Rica, with pureness and simplicity, you will enjoy life and the weather as it comes and goes. Say PURA VIDA with us!

On a Sunday (in 2015), three-and-a-half year old Arabian filly, Morgan-Alazmin, takes her first steps with a saddle!
Morgan has been part of the Smiling Horse family here in Monteverde since January, 2014. Since her arrival at the stable, we have worked with her to get accustomed to human contact; brushing, washing and petting her often, so being handled would be “normal” to her. Slowly we began putting saddle blankets on her, so she would get used to the feel.
Then, on September 19, 2015, we got Morgan her first set of shoes! She was slightly nervous, as is natural for a young horse, but she found comfort in the presence of the people she knew. The farrier had plenty of patience and handled her with care, speaking to her in the process; the calm familiar voices helped her relax. The experience flowed as easy as can be, and with experience she will only improve!

Finally the day came for her first excursion. She was taken in the lead by Sabine. The stable hand came along on another horse for extra support, in case any was needed. Alessa, the stable’s Collie, and Tico, the German Sheppard,came along for this adventure. Morgan was familiar with them, and did not mind them at all although it was tough for her not to play with them as she does in the field. Everything went smoothly, every once in a while she hesitated, but got over it quickly upon realizing that she was safe and not alone. Puddles in the road, however, were not Morgan’s favorite thing today. But after a few of them, she got over them too!
Morgan-Alazmin holds a future as bright as the sun, and one day hopefully she will even go on to endurance racing…

And yes, just an update here on December 2017 – she gotten National Champion 2018 in the 40 km distance racing discipline in Costa Rica.

Monteverde is settled since 1951 by Quakers. Every year on the 19th of April time is standing still in order to remember the arrival here in Monteverde. With a potluck at mid day people of the area are gathering together and sit in the grass to share this meal together. They remember with some of the still with us and original members of the community the arrival day here. That time here was no road, no housing, no fields or supermarkets or restaurants established. I have been sitting many times of these April 19th days. It is truly a very special feeling. I imagine how it must have felt having just yourself and some pots with you, hoping to find some dry wood to cook this lunch. And in our days, when the electricity, water or internet fails in the area for a short amount of time, I have no understanding for our days, for how we determine luxury, while that time the luxury was to have a cooked meal and have arrived somewhere that they wanted to settle down and build something up. During many years they achieved this goal and still in our days the Quakers do not want more than during that time. As for me, I call this sustainability, which I will write about in another blog post.