Costa Rica Part 7

A "night walk" in the cloud forest was the final scheduled event of our time in Monteverde.  The six of us had our own guide. Oscar was passionate about the cloud forest. His mission in life was impress on visitors  the importance of cherishing and preserving this sanctuary for native plants and animals. He couldn't wait to show as many of the wonderful birds and animals as he could, so he zipped around all over the place. 

Unfortunately, my sense of balance disappears almost completely when it gets dark. I wobble. I list to the side. I zig-zag uncontrollably. In order to show us all the critters, Oscar had us ascending slippery stone staircases, descending slippery stone staircases, moving along dark and winding trails, dodging branches and stumbling over the occasional rock. Soon, I was struggling to keep up with the others. It was misty and I was cold.  Fortunately, Simone offered to let me hold onto her arm, and she guided me along. Kind, dear Simone. I called her my sherpa.

We saw a monkey, sound asleep high in a tree. Catching up with another group and their guide, we saw a toucan, also asleep.  "He wasn't here when I came by last night." Oscar told us. Someone asked, "But doesn't he always sleep in the same place?"  "Of course not," Oscar replied. "He moves around to fool predators." My favorite bird was the beautiful mot mot. Oscar said that if you saw one, you could be sure of spotting its mate nearby. I had already noticed this from our balcony at the lodge, where one on a nearby branch was soon joined by another.

It was a strenuous walk for me and I was very happy to get back to Cala Lodge.  All I wanted to do was to drift off to sleep under a warm, soft quilt in a dark,  quiet room.  Just as I was approaching Dreamland, I was rudely jerked awake by a horrendous sound,  one  tremendous, sharp boom followed by a long-lasting a rumble. What was it? Some kind of thunder heard only in the mountains? A runaway locomotive colliding with a nearby building?  The gas stove exploding in the kitchen?

Almost immediately,  a young man and woman from the staff were hammering on the door, calling out, "Are you all right?" My husband was still up. He let them in.  "We're fine," he replied.

"A tree came down on the building!" they said.

"Yes," said Phil, "I can show you where it fell."

He opened the door to our balcony.  The tree had fallen very close to our room, splintering part of the roof.

"We can move you to another room," the woman offered.

"No thanks," we said. I wanted to stay put. Our room was fine.  The noise and the sudden awakening were by far the worst part of Horror # 4. 

The next morning, before leaving for Nosara, we saw the damage caused by the wild avocado tree. The owner and his assistant were already busy with a chain saw.

On the balcony, the morning after. Damage to roof visible just to the right. 

The view from below. Balcony seen through branches above roof on lower level.