Bernadette Bernard's Costa Rican Travels Parts 6 & 7

Holbrook Travel's very own Bernadette Bernard traveled to beautiful Costa Rica with Road Scholar in 2012.  Here is a day by day account of her journey: Day 6 After breakfast we were driven to Arenal Lake, where we took a river transfer of approximately 1 1/2 hours to Monteverde.  The ride went by quickly thanks to the interesting lecture given by the leader explaining the history of the lake and the use of its waters for hydroelectric production and irrigation. Our next stop was at Don Juan Coffee for a tour with a very informative lecturer.  Different grades of first class coffee were available for tasting as well as purchasing.  This is also where we had lunch. The day ended with a lecture on conservation and development in Monteverde, which was given by a biologist.  We ate dinner at the Monteverede hotel, where we had checked in earlier. Day 7 Today we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which was established in 1962.  The walk through the reserve was easy because the trails were wide.  The forest itself was viewed as an open classroom where the tour leader discussed and explained the characteristics of the cloud forest, the water of Arenal Lake, and the Costa Rica tourism research that is done there. Later in the morning we visited the hummingbird gallery where several different species were as abundant as the photo opportunities. After lunch we visited a very interesting cheese factory along with its bakery and the cooperative of artisan women's shop. Road Scholar program #8577 Part 8 & 9 Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1