Rauhala Ramblers: Monteverde Adventure-Costa Rica

Jan 31 and it was the end of our tour part of the trip. We left about 8:30 am after breakfast to go to Monteverde. We hired the owner of the hotel in Atenas to drive us. After about 90 minutes of driving we were going up a steep mountain road that was very narrow and rocky, we all thought we were lost but the driver insisted it was okay. The men said the van was overheating, we stopped and the radiator had blown.

The driver called for a taxi, but we did not think they would find us, we sat in the shade for an hour waiting
We turned the car around and went down hill in neutral slowing down with the hand brake and twisting back and forth on the road, but stayed out of the ditch. We went about 2 miles until we came to a local farmer and he said he had a cousin who could fix the radiator and another cousin who could give us a ride to Monteverde. We tried to keep our sense of humour about the situation and called it our travel adventure. The locals people are so helpful and friendly, they even filled our water bottles with water from their home.

The person came with the truck and we loaded the luggage in the box and piled in. The truck had poor shocks and the road was rough, rocky, pot holes and some parts were washed out including driving through one part of the road with water running over it. We called it our Indiana Jones ride. When we were driving downhill the steering wheel came off and when the driver put it back on the horn started honking. The steering wheel came off again and he put it back faster this time. The transmission was poor and kept grinding and the truck almost stalled on the steep parts of the road. The scenery was spectacular it reminded us of the Top of the World highway in Alaska.