Costa Rica - Monteverde

I am in love.

First of all, you must promise me that you will do whatever you can to come here. This is possibly the most beautiful place in the world. I really don´t want to leave. Honestly. I have heard of people that have emigrated here, and now I understand why. If I had half a million pounds in my pocket I would do too!

Being here, I feel that everything is as it should be, and that the jungle is a perfectly crafted, magnificent miracle. Yes, I´m turning into a hippy (or even more of one). We should be living in harmony with this rather than getting rid of it and replacing it with our ¨civilisation¨ -ugh!

The first thing I noticed was how astonishingly different to Guatemala this place is. It is significantly richer, and the grinding poverty that I see every day in Xela isn´t nearly so apparent here. I realise that I feel a little freer for not feeling so awful all the time. Having your heart broken everyday by witnessing such poverty and wrongness as exists in Guatemala is quite draining :o(.

I love Costa Rica because it has built its reputation on looking after the environment. There are so many nature reserves all over the country, and each one is utterly magical. So far we have been to Santa Elena Reserve, and Monteverde Reserve. These are cloud forest areas, which means that the jungle is pretty much kissed by clouds the whole time. It is moist and fresh, and home to a staggering amount of wildlife. Today was our 3rd day in the reserves, and we have begun to get used to looking out for wildlife. We have seen a monkey, beautiful butterflies, a snake, and many beautiful colourful birds - including the Quetzal, which is the bird that everyone hopes to see. We especially wanted to see it because it is the national bird of Guatemala symbolising liberty. I find this whole metaphor depressing because the Quetzal is practically extinct in Guatemala.

This evening we are going to an organic farm which is owned by the Quakers! We are going to stay for 3 nights and spend 2 days as farm workers! I´m really excited!!!! Then on saturday, we have a 6 hour bus journey to the Pacific Coast and another nature reserve. This one has a different climate, and we hope to see scarlet mackaws and monkeys. We will spend next week travelling down the coast whilst I seek out the perfect snorkelling spot!

Please promise me that you will come and visit Costa Rica!!! It´s wonderful I think to be able to support the organistions that are protecting the cloud and rainforests, and are continuously buying up more land to protect it. All countries should be like this.