Dirt Roads ~ High Heels: Hanging Around Mistico

Friday, April 19, 2019

Hanging Around Mistico

If you didn't see my last blog about staying in the middle of the jungle at the Lost Iguana Resort, go back and read it. Then, when you book your stay there, be sure and add this little adventure to your list! The Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park is 600 acres and part of a protected forest sanctuary that is open to the public. This diverse ecosystem is full of many of the native species of Costa Rica and is not one to be missed. They offer many tours such as a Night Walk, Birding Tour, repelling down Spider Monkey Canyon, the Arenal Volcano Expedition, Horseback Riding, and of course the infamous, Hanging Bridges Tour. Get more info here https://misticopark.com/

We only had time for one adventure and the Hanging Bridge Tour had caught my eye when we were planning our little get-a-way. We opted to do the self-guided tour but they do offer personal guides that can often point out jungle wildlife you may have missed otherwise. Tip: if you see the guides have stopped to show their group a point of interest, just casually walk behind them and look for yourself. Chances are you will see what they have spotted! I will say, the guides do offer a lot of information that we didn't get to hear, so if you are interested in learning more about the forest, book the guide! It's about a 2 mile hike and because we like to go at our own pace and not be on schedule, we enjoyed having that freedom of walking through the jungle just us two!

We saw howler monkeys, lemurs, poisonous frogs, and even a small brightly colored yellow snake. And birds, a lot of birds. The waterfall known as Blue Morpho Waterfall is just off the beaten path but is definitely worth the small hike to get there. We had the whole area to ourselves. Now, let's talk bridges. There are 15 total bridges in which 6 of them are suspended, hanging high above the jungle floor. The longest suspension bridge is 97 meters long which is approximately 318 feet and let me tell you, I about didn't make it across. They got easier for me as the hike went on, but I never looked down and I always wore my sunglasses; they made me feel safe 😎 When we made it to the last suspension bridge, something amazing was happening; a Howler monkey was in the middle of the bridge just "hanging around" and we were able to experience him without any other tourists present. Because of the Monkey distraction, I totally forgot about being suspended high in the air, was able to grab a video and a few snaps of him before making my way to the end. It really was the perfect jungle experience!