In November 2005, we travelled to Costa Rica for two weeks. We started in the capitol city, San Jose, then took a bus northwest to the "cloud forest" of Monteverde. From Monteverde, we bussed to Punterenas and took a slow ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya. We stayed in a small town on the Nicoya Peninsula called Montezuma. We fell in love with Montezuma, as most people do, for its natural setting, laid-back atmosphere, and wonderful beaches on the Pacific Ocean (though, oddly, facing East not West -- an strange feeling to watch the sun rise over the Pacific!). While there, we visited lovely Reserva Absoluta Cabo Blanco, started by Karen Morgensen, a Dane, and her Swedish husband. Then we took a speed boat back to the mainland, seeing dolphins on the way. On the mainland, we rented a car and drove to Manuel Antonio National Park to take some amazingly up-close photos of monkeys, including the endangered squirrel monkey. Then we moved inland to the coffee-filled hills of the Central Highlands, where we took a tour of Doka coffee plantation & roaster and then visited steamy Volcan Poas.
