In the afternoon Laura and I did a ‘garden to glass’ experience at the Hotel, just the two of us, where Diego took us first around the gardens of the hotel to see their sustainability at work and the different plants they grow and how they can be used. We took a basket around with us and gathered lots of sprigs of herbs, flowers and even wild blackberries.

In the gardens we also met Floriana who oversees the gardens at the Belmar who we talked to about natural pest control and composting.

When we got back to the bar, we laid out all the ingredients on a table and Diego showed us how to make a coffee rum cocktail from rum which he’d left coffee beans soaking in earlier - very simple but delicious!

We then got to make our own cocktail from some of the items we’d gathered from the garden - first selecting the spirit and then crushing the leaves together with a caramelised orange segment. We then added these to a shaker with Guaro, syrup and ice and shook it. Diego smoked the glasses on a pine smoker, added ice and then we poured the cocktails in and garnished with more findings from the garden - in this case some flower petals and a carrot leaf.

For the last cocktail we learnt how to garnish the rim of the glass and then could sit back and watch the expert at work in making the cocktails for us with cucumber and basil from the garden.

After a delicious breakfast at Belmar, this time I had the breakfast sandwich of pesto, avocado, egg and roast peppers, we were picked up by the Selvatura transport to take us to the hanging bridges tour. We got there early and were assigned to a guide to take us around the park. He took us backwards around in order to avoid the other groups which seemed to work really well! We started the tour with a Coati coming across a mini bridge to us before admiring more of the beautiful cloud forest flora. Then we reached the first bridge of ?, each of which gave us a different view of the forest - some in the trees and some above the trees, all at different heights.

We saw lots more interesting plants and small birds that flew into sight briefly and then off again busy with whatever they were doing in the forest, but also, we saw some that stayed around for us to photograph - such as the Quetzal and Toucanet.

Seeing the forest canopy from above was amazing, so much variety in colours and shapes across the trees it was such a magical place.

After the tour finished, we had a quick look in the shop and lunch in the restaurant - I wouldn’t recommend these, just get the transport back.

on to Garden to glass

Finca Madre Tierra was the first carbon-neutral farm in Costa Rica and we were really excited to visit and learn more about it. We met at reception at 2pm to travel with Oscar, one of the people who run the farm, to travel to the farm, which was about 25 minutes away from the hotel. When we arrived, we were greeted by the farm dogs and the sounds of the animals who after washing our hands we went inside the barn to meet.
First we got to feed the donkeys and then Laura and Abi had a go at milking the cow. Some of the milk was then put into bottles for the young animals and Abi and Jessica fed it to the calves and lambs. The milk from the cows is also used in making cheese for the hotel.

After the animals had been fed, it was time to head outside and learn how to ride the horses. I was first onto my horse and successfully managed to guide it around and over to the water trough, but it wasn’t interested in drinking any. We rode for about 45 minutes up and down the stony paths, through the forest and across streams. At one point Oscar stopped and signalled we should all stop behind him as he’d seen a snake - a pit viper in the tree at the side of the path.

We then went back to the barn and had a go at making our own tortillas, which we ate with home-made cheese and eggs from the farm along with aguadulce and farm grown coffee to drink.

After eating we were taken on a walking tour of the farm where we got to see how the farms puts sustainability into action throughout all the different things they produce. We started by visiting the cheese factory where they make the cheese for the hotel from the cows milk. They make the cheese in the mornings, so we got to taste some of the different types of cheeses and see the smoker in action - they burn discarded rice husks to get the smoke, which then are re-used again in the compost mixture they make.

After the cheese we saw the forest to the side of the farm where they’ve been re-foresting an area and told how they’ve been working with scientists to study how to get the most effective balance to build a sustainable farming practise. We then went on to visit the coffee plantation, where they grow a particular species of coffee that is best suited to organic growth and less susceptible to coffee

Crushing sugar cane to drink

on to Hanging bridges

Early start for a quick breakfast (I had a delicious home-made granola with chia and coconut milk) and then meet our driver at 7am to take us to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. We had a private guide for the walk around the reserve with whom we saw lots of things and heard lots of birds - nightingale, ‘squeaky-door bird (Solitaire), toucanettes and quetzal.

Abi spotted a female Quetzal. The guide was great at showing us everything around on the ground and in the trees and how climate change has affected the area. They used to have only 30 dry days a year and now have 90! 50% of frogs have disappeared with a knock on effect on everything else. I particularly liked the tree ferns, and the tanagers. We also saw a tarantula in its hole.

After the walk around the reserve, we went over to the hummingbird viewing area where they had sugar-water in feeders for the hummingbirds to drink

On the way back we opted to be dropped off in the town of Santa Elena to have a look around and make our own way back to the hotel - it was nice to see, but the walk back was much further than the ‘15 minutes’ we’d been told! We had a juice for lunch and then relaxed for a bit before our trip to the farm we’d booked for the afternoon.

on to Finca Madre Tierra

We started with an early breakfast at 7 with seats right by the front of the restaurant overlooking the volcano watching birds over the water and then headed over to the reception to be picked up at 8:15 for Sky trek.

When we arrived, we put our bags in the lockers and got kitted out with equipment and they gave me a special helmet with a mount for my go-pro so that I could film from there rather than from my chest strap. We were then given the briefing on how to use the equipment and importantly how to brake and were taken up to the stop of the first zip line in the tram.

There were 7 zip lines in all including the longest which was nearly half a mile in length. There were fantastic views from the zip lines overlooking Arenal lake and volcano and it was such a great way to see the area from a different perspective.

After we finished the course we had chips at the restaurant overlooking the volcano and headed back to the hotel for a chilled out afternoon by the pool and finished off the evening in the hotels termales.

on to Monteverde - Hotel Belmar