Our trip to Monte Verde began with finding out exactly where that was and how we would get there. Using again a very basic map we guessed roads aksed for directions and arrived at a very long line of cars waiting for the ferry to cross over from the peninsula to the mainland. There were no other options and hundreds of cars ahead of us so we parked Utah and went to find some street food and hide from the incredible heat as we waited for the ferry that would be ours. This reminded me a lot of the line for the ferry trying to get to Ilha Bela during a holiday. Finally we got on the ferry and hung out drinking passion fruit shaved icees for the next hour before heading to the other side.
Once on the mainland we again had to find ourselves and how we would get to Monte Verde, we found the main highway and on our way we were stopped by a police checkpoint. Of course they would pull over the old white van with California license plates filled with gringos. The plan was the same the boys normally used, pretend you don´t speak any spanish ( easy for them) and they usually pass by with no major problems. Well that did not happen this time. According to the police and the document we recieved at the border only the people in that document were allowed to drive the car. We had filled out the paper with Jordan and Danny´s name but had left Sean´s name out because we did not know they all needed to be listed since all of their 3 names were listed on the ownership of the car and they all had driver´s licenses to be driving in Costa. Really terrible mistake, according to that paper if a person who´s name was not on the paper was not driving the car they would need to tow the van, and in addition to that we had 7 people in the vehicle instead of the 5 allowed. We realized that we were not getting anywhere, there was a toe truck waiting for us and the police wanted our bags out of the car. It was time for Pedro and I to use our Spanish and attempt to come to some sort of agreement. I spoke to one of the cops while Pedro spoke to the other one. I explained that we didnt know, that Sean´s name was in the other paper, that we had all our bags, we would be stranded, we had to keep going, and asked if there was any other way we could solve this that would not involve the car being towed. He explained that he had to tow it and we would have to go get it from immigrationa and pay 500 dollars and deal with it there. e asked for Sean´s documents and in his little machine began to type his information. I asked again if there was anything he could do and he stopped typing and went to speak to the cop that Pedro had been dealing with. He came back and said that he talked to his friend and that maybe there was a way that would be easier on everyone. He made Sean promise not to drive in the country again and kept referring to how this was a really big favor he was doing, we should take into consideration his help, that he could not ask for anything but that if the car was towed we would have to pay $500 for us to think about his kindness and how to repay that. At taht point we realized that we were off the hook and the work of Pedro and I talking to the cops had gotten us somehwere. We went back to the van explained the situation and talked about how much we would give the cops for letting us go. We handed over $30, thanked them, said Sean would not drive in Costa Rica and got on the road towards Monte Verde.
I was pretty nervous during that whole time, I don´t like talking to cops, and nothing like that had happened to me before, but thankfully things worked out how we thought, we would pay them and leave. The little fiasco took some time away from our drive and we had to find out way to Monte Verde during the night through small roads, many with no clear signs and having to ask a lot of directions. We finally arrived, it was the middle of the mountain, dark and cold. We booked our trip for the next day and went to bed very excited to fly through the canopys.
Once on the mainland we again had to find ourselves and how we would get to Monte Verde, we found the main highway and on our way we were stopped by a police checkpoint. Of course they would pull over the old white van with California license plates filled with gringos. The plan was the same the boys normally used, pretend you don´t speak any spanish ( easy for them) and they usually pass by with no major problems. Well that did not happen this time. According to the police and the document we recieved at the border only the people in that document were allowed to drive the car. We had filled out the paper with Jordan and Danny´s name but had left Sean´s name out because we did not know they all needed to be listed since all of their 3 names were listed on the ownership of the car and they all had driver´s licenses to be driving in Costa. Really terrible mistake, according to that paper if a person who´s name was not on the paper was not driving the car they would need to tow the van, and in addition to that we had 7 people in the vehicle instead of the 5 allowed. We realized that we were not getting anywhere, there was a toe truck waiting for us and the police wanted our bags out of the car. It was time for Pedro and I to use our Spanish and attempt to come to some sort of agreement. I spoke to one of the cops while Pedro spoke to the other one. I explained that we didnt know, that Sean´s name was in the other paper, that we had all our bags, we would be stranded, we had to keep going, and asked if there was any other way we could solve this that would not involve the car being towed. He explained that he had to tow it and we would have to go get it from immigrationa and pay 500 dollars and deal with it there. e asked for Sean´s documents and in his little machine began to type his information. I asked again if there was anything he could do and he stopped typing and went to speak to the cop that Pedro had been dealing with. He came back and said that he talked to his friend and that maybe there was a way that would be easier on everyone. He made Sean promise not to drive in the country again and kept referring to how this was a really big favor he was doing, we should take into consideration his help, that he could not ask for anything but that if the car was towed we would have to pay $500 for us to think about his kindness and how to repay that. At taht point we realized that we were off the hook and the work of Pedro and I talking to the cops had gotten us somehwere. We went back to the van explained the situation and talked about how much we would give the cops for letting us go. We handed over $30, thanked them, said Sean would not drive in Costa Rica and got on the road towards Monte Verde.
I was pretty nervous during that whole time, I don´t like talking to cops, and nothing like that had happened to me before, but thankfully things worked out how we thought, we would pay them and leave. The little fiasco took some time away from our drive and we had to find out way to Monte Verde during the night through small roads, many with no clear signs and having to ask a lot of directions. We finally arrived, it was the middle of the mountain, dark and cold. We booked our trip for the next day and went to bed very excited to fly through the canopys.
Getting our gear on
Flying high through the valleys and the amazing forrest was so beautiful, exciting and a lot of fun. The best part was the last run that was very long and we were attached from our backs with our legas up as if we were actually flying. It was absolutely incredible and scary and I could not have asked for a better experience. At the end of the day we got to the hostel and had to drop off Pedro at the bus station where he caught a bus to San Jose and spent the night there waiting for his flight the next day. Back to school for Pedro after a great winter break!
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