When I woke up this morning I was overjoyed to get onto our big tourist bus and start our trek through the mountains to Monteverde! Until now, I have only experienced the culture and scenery of the Central Valley, but today I was introduced to mountain life. As we winded our way up and over mountains, I began to see the sheer beauty of this part of the country (while fighting a little bit of car sickness). I also noticed a few main differences between the Central Valley and the new towns we drove through. The main thing is that there are obviously less people living here and a little less life. The houses were more spread apart, but they were still the same style as the houses I had seen in Heredia. Another thing I noticed was the weather difference. Everyday in the Central Valley starts out with a nice blue sky with some cloud coverage over the mountains. As we made our way here, I noticed it was more overcast the whole time (this could also be because of the time of day). A similarity I saw was the way of life. Costa Ricans here and in Heredia seem to do the same day to day things.
When we finally arrived in Monteverde, we sat down for a talk with Ricardo (the son of one of the first Quaker settlers). Before today I thought all of Costa Rica was just founded and developed by native Costa Ricans, but I am surely wrong. Yesterday at Cafe Britt, I learned that the founder was actually from New York, and the Quakers that settled in Monteverde were from Alabama. Who knew there were so many Americans that wanted to live in Costa Rica? Anyway, Ricardo shared his family’s story and what it was like to come live in this paradise. I was intrigued by the fact that American settlers started the idea of conserving the rainforest. Not only has the Quaker settlement protected the wildlife, but the economy has also blossomed. The Quakers here in Monteverde started a dairy farm and produced cheese (cheese is still produced up here today). With the beauty of the Cloud Forest, Monteverde has also interested many visitors. These visitors contribute to the tourist economy in Costa Rica as well.
Aside from all the learning I did today, we stopped for lunch at El Jardin. They had some animals to visit and some fun souvenirs to find! This was a fun way to settle our stomachs during the trip up to Monteverde!
