Today, we traveled to Monteverde, a four hour drive up the mountainside, and we will be staying here for the next two nights. We were able to stop halfway through our travels in San Ramón to have lunch and see some of their community. We spent time petting the horses as well as seeing the cows and sheep. As we got back on the bus and continued our journey, I saw a lot of different things that I didn’t see in Heredia. For instance, the communities after San Ramón were very spread out and there was a lot of farmland. Unfortunately, I also saw that the living conditions for some of the farm animals were not ideal and it made feel bad for them. Most of the people in these communities work with less, and they are able to manage with such little resources.

As we reached Monteverde, I noticed that the communities were much closer together, and more touristy. There were a lot of dogs out, most of them off leash just roaming around freely. The view from the mountain is breathtaking and the hotel we are staying in is beautiful. The town’s building is full of murals and hotels/villages. There were people selling fruit on the sides of the roads and everyone seemed friendly. There are two cheese production farms here as well, so we were able to try their fresh ice cream! My perception of Costa Rica has changed once we arrived here since the lifestyles from Heredia to Monteverde are different. Monteverde caters more to tourists, but their community is much smaller and closer together. Heredia is larger and their way of life seems to move at a quicker pace.

Once we arrived, we attended a lecture with Ricardo Guindon, the son of one of the original Quakers who founded parts of Monteverde. He shared with us his family story and origins and the impacts the Quakers brought to Costa Rica. We learned that when the Quakers arrived to Monteverde, which was just a valley at the time, they split into two groups to explore the central valley and the central pacific. They made decisions based on a consensus and voted for the name of the region to be called Monteverde. The Quakers began producing cheese by having an abundance of farm animals and pasteurized milk for the country. In addition, one family took it upon themselves to create a power plant to produce electricity. Once moving here, they learned that there is a large amount of biodiversity in Monteverde, including unique animals and plants only founded here. Ricardo’s father and a man named George Powell founded the cloud forest reserve, which today, Ricardo gives tours of. They had a few more traditions such as square dancing every other Saturday night and having a potluck the first Sunday of every month where all of the families in the community would all bring a dish and come together. All of these small changes and discoveries impacted the Costa Rican economy and culture and made it what it has grown into today.