Fifth Time In Costa Rica, 7

I did a four hour hike this morning on some very rugged terrain at one of the cloud forest reserves, Santa Elena. This will be my first time there. The father of the manager of the Mariposa, where I`m staying, was kind enough to accompany me. I was going to ask him yesterday to make arrangements for the transport bus to pick me up this morning so I could go, but he offered to drive me there instead and so we went together. Since he speaks no English it was also a great Spanish workout for me. I don`t know how he managed, but somehow he managed to get me in for free. Otherwise, I would be paying around twenty dollars for the privilege. His son, the manager of the Mariposa, has a brother who works at the principal cloud forest reserve up the hill from the bed and breakfast, and this morning he told me that they could arrange so that I only have to pay once, while I`m here, and all the other visits will be for free. This family are incredibly kind people, I have found. Words fail me to describe the natural splendour of the Santa Elena cloud forest. Each tree is turned by other plants and organisms into a thriving ecosystem, a community in miniature, with the many vines, mosses, ferns and other plants covering and festooning the trunks and branches, till you have to look hard sometimes in order to see the tree in the midst of the other forms of life that are being sustained by it. Needless to say, I am exhausted, but we didn`t do too bad for two guys in their early sixties. We afterward stopped in the cafe there for water and to rest. The hills we had to climb were incredibly steep and long, in many places the trails were muddy, and sometimes it felt as though the jungle was defying us and challenging us to see just how much we could take and endure. There was something about making the effort of climbing and hiking that somehow made me feel like I was part of the jungle, as though in so doing we were also participating in the life of this wonderful forest. I hope to return, but maybe for a shorter walk. You might imagine how tired and sore I am feeling right now, but it is a good tired and a good sore, and I always feel spiritually restored following time spent in the forest, but I`m not going anywhere else today. Too pooped. Apparently, walking in the woods has curative properties. The Japanese call it forest bathing, and because of the near presence of the trees and other plant life and the healing phytochemicals they give off, this is actually very good for mind, body and soul. So, don`t forget to hug a tree today. According to Uncle Google, ``Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them thrive or thwart competitors, predators, or pathogens.`` There were quite a few visitors in the frest and we even met another Canadian, one of two young women (her friend is from France). She lives in Banff. I did tell them to please check out the Mariposa for their next stay in Monteverde. The manager`s father, they at first thought was also a visitor, so in explaining that he lived here I also mentioned that he owns the bed and breakfast where I`m staying. He seemed to appreciate the free promo. Afterward we went on a long drive through various villages in the Costa Rican countryside, which is bucolic, rustic, and so lovely with mountains and hills covered with forest and pastures with cattle and horses grazing. He mentioned to me that the Costa Rican government tends to give priority to development with places like the Monteverde area, since, as big cash grabs for tourism, they also make the government a nice bit of coin. Other parts of the country, unfortunately, since they don`t contribute a whole lot to the government coffers, have to do without. We got back to the bed and breakfast at around three and both the manager`s father and his wife (the manager`s mother, I am not using their names here because I really want to protect their privacy) invited me in to the part of the bed and breakfast where they live for a bite to eat with them, so that`s my dinner. And what a privilege to be included like that by them. I have mentioned elsewhere that we have become friends, well, now you know it. By the way, I partially take back the unkind words I wrote yesterday, Gentle Reader, about stuck up French and German tourists. This morning at breakfast I met a lovely middle age couple who live near Paris, who are staying here, and we also ran into them at the cafeteria in the Santa Elena cloud forest. And there was also a young German couple here who turned out to be nicer than I thought. Perhaps in those countries people tend to be more reserved and introverted and that can make them appear standoffish. But I`m sure that at least a few of them are also insufferable snobs! a big hug to all of you!