Tree Climbing in Monteverde

I am in chilly Monteverde and tonight was an adventure! Monteverde is located here and it is high up in the mountains so it's a little colder than hot and humid La Fortuna! My first night I didn't realize a small window was open and I was FREEZING!

My first adventure so far was a tree climbing / night hike tour! The hollow tree is called a Ficus tree, it's like a tree virus that starts its life at the top of a tree and slowly drops vines / roots that wrap around the tree. Once it gets to the ground the roots steal all the nutrients from its host tree, killing it, and creating this hollow, climbable, tree!

It was hard to get pictures and of videos inside the tree as I needed my hands to climb but it was super cool! The vines created strong hand and foot holds to get you to the top! Near the top was a tiny opening that opened up to a man made flooring that allowed us to get a view above the trees! https://youtube.com/shorts/szBMK8Af8xc?feature=share Our guide was awesome and did a little photoshoot for us all before we made our way back down the tree (none of us expected this, we thought we were going to rappel down the side so we were a little nervous squeezing back into the tiny opening)

After we successfully made it down, we began our night hike! We saw a moth and a glass winged butterfly. Do you know the difference between a moth and a butterfly? Moths hangout with their wings open while butterflies hang out with them closed!

We also saw 2 different kinds of stick bugs and a BEAUTIFUL tarantula!

Our guide had a telescope and found this beautiful hummingbird as well as some toucans and a sleeping black currawong (these birds were harder to get pictures of)

We also got to look at the moon with the telescope and we saw some nice stars!

After my adventure, I joined two of my new friends from Miami for dinner! We went to Bar Amigos where I got this delicious tilapia dish for only $7!!

My new friends are awesome humans that live in a trailer in Miami with an outdoor kitchen and shower. They dumpster dive for wasted fruits and love earth as much as I do. The girl is a diver that works with restoring coral reefs. The job she has now is actually creating an impact and has a 20 year goal that is on track! Her last job was less successful in creating worthy change, which is why she left. She also told me how when she first graduated school with her marine biology degree, a company that was going to hire her wanted her to lie to get them more money! She was so upset that this job that was supposed to be awesome for the environment only cared about money! (relatable to my experience in engineering!) The guy is also a diver that scrapes barnacles off boats. He previously worked for a compost company and tried out serving but had a hard time carrying trays. (this is when I got to spill all the tea about how terrible serving is). The only picture I got with them exists on my disposable camera that will be developed... Who knows when! Will I still remember them by then?! I guess we'll find out!