Most of Costa Rica is fervently dedicated to the doing of good and the protection of nature, but Monteverde felt like it was on another level. Buildings in Monteverde feel alive and like a part of the mountain, with the wildlife being very much present all around. Day and night you could see many beasts, large and small. I saw an agouti, and many more people saw many more things throughout our time in Monteverde. Every creature was either passive or friendly, and many bugs would come through in need of rescue, although every building was very surrounded by and close to nature, so it was not far the bug needed to go.

Before coming here, I had no idea how passionate Ticos were about the environment. All of these things are very surprising but not nearly as surprising as how many communities of other cultures there are in Costa Rica. One of these groups is the Quakers.

The Quakers helped to first accelerate the Costa Rican economy around Monteverde by bringing with them chainsaws, and then did a full 180 and planted some of the first seeds of conservationism by preserving land. Every foreigner group in Costa Rica has had an incredible undeniable effect on Costa Rican cuisine, and the Quaker’s addition was cheese. They established a cheese factory which we sadly did not visit, but if I ever return to Costa Rica (which I probably will) I will be visiting the cheese factory asap.

Oh, and the irony of learning about Quakers the same day I watched Creed 3 was not lost on me.