We started with a beautiful walk from our hotel to a hummingbird gallery, where we saw an amazing number and variety of the little birds flitting around a series of feeders filled with a simple concentrated sugar solution. The interesting thing about the feeders is that they were designed so that only hummingbirds can drink out of them, with their long slender beaks. Other shorter-beaked birds can't get in there, thus ensuring a constant stream of hummingbirds looking for the ever-present food. Brilliant! My favorite was the purple one above.
After watching in fascination I read about the birds and learned that their hearts beat incredibly fast (up to 1260 beats per minute), which is needed to support their super-high metabolism.
At the hummingbird gallery we met an adorable newlywed couple from Winnipeg. We ended up talking hockey, as they are looking forward to their team (the Jets) returning to the city and I crowed about the Bruins. It was a fun moment and just another example of why travelling is worthwhile -- you meet really interesting people you wouldn't otherwise.
We wrapped up the first half of the day with a walk to two interesting local businesses -- a cheese factory and an artists' cooperative. Along the way we saw many more beautiful landscapes and tropical plants and other cool stuff. Look at this bettle Miss O'B spotted in the road -- even the bugs are colorful!
We left Monteverde after lunch to go to Fortuna and the famous Arenal Volcano, seen here from the taxi we took to get there. It was a heck of a journey as Miss O'B will tell you next.
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