Day 94 : Exploring Monteverde

Looking to explore Monteverde, my hostel suggested that I combine the walk with a visit to the infamous Ficus Tree. 

They didn't have a map, so one of the staff David, drew me one.

Ta-dah!

Enroute to the Ficus tree, I bumped into Vincent, a British staying in Canada, whom I had met at the bus stop while waiting for the bus to Monteverde, and we decided to explore Monteverde together.

His hostel had given him a more professional looking map of Monteverde and what it had to offer, and that was when I first heard about Cerro de Los Amigos.

Located on a steep hill and said to offer wonderful views, the trek up from the foot of the hill took us about an hour to reach the top. 

We struggled a little on the climb up, being challenged by the altitude as well as being extra cautious not to slip on the muddy steep paths.

We were glad to finally reach the top, which was also where all the TV towers on the island is located. The views from here were indeed great!

The trek down took us almost the same amount of time going up, as we were not keen to be falling on the muddy pathways and cautiously made our way down the slope. 

Ficus Tree was not as easy to find.  Both Vince and I struggled reading both my map and his map, and even after cross referencing with both Google Maps and Maps.Me, we still struggled to find the spot.

There were no signs, and only after being pointed to an obscure small dirt path by a local, did we find the tree.   

Ficus Tree are unique, as they germinate on another tree (host). Using the host tree as support, the Ficus grow its roots around the host, while also growing upwards. 

As it grows, it slowly "steal" sunlight and nutrients from the host, and in process kills the host tree when the host tree can no longer get its required nutrients to survive. 

Once the host tree dies and decomposes, the center of the Ficus Tree becomes hollow, thus creating a special "ladder" like pattern in the tree, allowing people to climb on them.

We were told there would be great views of the city and the lake at the top of the tree.  It was a tough struggle trying to even get through to the the centre of the tree and felt that it could only be done if we had special yoga skills to flex our way in. 

However, we also didn't see ourselves climbing to the top, and we reasoned to ourselves that if we aren't able to see the view, there was no point in attempting to climb the Ficus Tree.  

So after taking a couple of photos, we were satisfied and decided to head back to our hostels to rest our legs, in preparation for another walk tonight to spot animals including SLOTH! :)