The Magic of Monteverde: A Harrowing Trip Down the Mountain

It had been raining for a couple days so we decided to head for the beach in Samara. Packed 4 people and 3 dogs into the Sidekick and headed out. Had to stop partway down the hill as Hannah and Francisco's two pups can get carsick from all the bumps, twists, and turns along the 23 km of unpaved road. Nice place to stop is by the Brahman calf pens! So cute with the giant floppy ears!
Beautiful vistas along the way. Stopped for lunch at our favorite place, Tico Linda.
Further on down the road Francisco pulled over to show us a cool spot where some mango trees grow and macaws like to hang out.
Then another stop just past a bridge along a river with a high population of crocs. High tide so didn't see anything. Hit the road again and instant car trouble!
As soon as we pulled onto the highway, the car died. Francisco pulled over and he and BigJohn took a look at the engine. It's like it wasn't getting any gas. Couldn't figure it out. Lucky us, Hannah noticed a truck across the street that was about to pull onto the highway. We flagged him down and he agreed to give us a tow to a nearby garage.
While being towed and as we quickly picked up speed on the downhill stretch, Francisco shared with us that he had no brakes. Hannah immediately started chugging her beer as she'd heard that it's usually the intoxicated person who survives the crash. Francisco started working the emergency brake and was able to slow us down some.
Only a few km to the garage (the longest kilometers I'd gone in a long time with the brakes not working properly) where a kind mechanic dropped what he was doing and went to work on our car. Problem in the electrical system. The car alarm had never worked but for some reason it had become activated without sounding any alarm and shut off all systems - thus, no brakes. Car alarm was disabled and we were on our way!
Interesting sidenote - Francisco thought the mechanic looked familiar. Turns out he's friends with the guy's brother. No matter where we go, Francisco knows people.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers we were able to continue our trip with little delay. And on our way back up the mountain 4 days later, we were able to repay that kindness by paying it forward.
A young trucker was pulled over trying to help an older couple change a flat. Lug wrench wouldn't work. We tried ours and couldn't get a good fit. Lugnuts were getting stripped. Another trucker stopped with a different sized lugwrench and the guys were finally able to remove the lugnuts and get the tire changed. This was after dark and on a road with lots of curves and no shoulder. Not a good place to break down. The older couple was from Monteverde and so appreciated the help. There was a language barrier as they spoke mainly French but we all understood his offer of hospitality when he spoke a word understood in any language - "whiskey". So we'll be stopping by his place some time!