Traveling by car from Monteverde to Palo Verde National Park should take about 90 minutes

The Nicoya Peninsula is one of the Blue Zones we have mentioned previously. For our family there is a memorable connection to the wetlands area where we are opening a shop this month, just as there was in Tamarindo. In 1998 we had a dozen family members visiting and organized a small bus to transport us to Arenal, Monteverde, and onward to the Palo Verde National Park. As we approached the wetlands of Palo Verde, neither we nor our driver was aware of flooding that had recently occurred. Somewhere there is a photo of what happened, and I will post it when I find it so you can visualize: we were on a one lane road crossing the middle of what appeared to be a vast lake divided by the road. When we got to the midpoint of crossing that lake, the road was suddenly submerged due to floodwaters none of us knew about, and neither the driver nor anyone else could see the road any more. Our driver tried valiantly to drive on to the other side, but since he could no longer see the road below us, our bus eventually went off track, tipping over into the water. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But that 90 minute drive turned into a full day narrowly averted disaster. We all laugh about it to this day.

A few weeks ago Amie and I finally visited the wetlands adjacent to the Palo Verde  National Park. The private reserve is a remarkable story of ecosystem recovery, worthy of its own post, so I will save that for another day. For now, just a note that we are opening Authentica shop #5 at Hacienda El Viejo this week.