Living life in the clouds

The trip to the Monteverde Cloud forest allowed me additional time to recover from the Arenal Volcano. The trip by bus, then boat and then bus again was full of rejuvenating green, hilly, farmland and pristine blue water with impressive views back to the volcano behind.  We stayed at the small alpine feel town of Santa Elena (1,400m) at the Rainy Days B&B Hostel run by Ernesto, his sister and his mum.  We checked a few brochures and decided to book for the Selvatura Nature and Adventure Park the next day where you are able to zipline over the cloud forest, something we have not done before.

Santa Elena

After that it was time to settle in and wander down to the town for dinner. We ate at the fabulous Morphos Restaurant, a work of art on its own and with fabulous food, sitting down to a scrumptious meal of Casado. Basically the familiar black beans and rice from breakfast plus a salad, plus fried plantains, plus a meat of your choice (or vegetables if you are vegetarian like us). Morpho is a beautiful blue butterfly found in this area of Central America.

A Casado Meal

Morphos Restaurant

Ziplining in Selvatura Park

Ziplining in Selvatura Park was an amazing experience. High above the trees they had 13 legs in all with some exceedingly long, including number 5 at 650m and the last one being over a km long. Plenty of time to marvel at the beauty of the cloud forest (even though it was a clear blue day). The two long ones were done tandem so that you had enough weight to make the distance. We did tend to struggle on those a bit because, even combined, we are not that heavy. The rest of the time was spent walking through the forest atop a myriad of hanging bridges and visiting the hummingbird garden.

The hummingbird is an awesome bird. Zipping in and out at amazing speeds they are hard to photograph. Their wings can flap at 80 flaps per minute, their heart rate is up around 1,200 beats per minute and they can take 250 breaths per minute. That is one hard working bird that you can (try to) watch for hours. We also did a Night Walk through the forest at Valle Escondido Preserve

The next day was rainy and miserable so we decided to stay in and make it a planning day. Where to next, book accommodation, how do we get there, that kind of thing. With our kind of 'unplanned' travelling we need planning days or we don't end up going anywhere. It was a good decision because the next day was glorious and we spent it hiking in the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

Getting there was easy, a public bus came right past the B & B and only cost $1.50. We were a bit slow getting up so the park was full when we got there. They only allow 200 in at a time so that the animals have breathing space and you have to stay on the paths. Luckily, not long after a tour group came out and we were able to go in. You are given a barcode wrist band so that they can scan you going in and coming out and that is how they can track numbers.

The park was very well sign posted with 'you are here' signs at every fork and coupled with the map and a suggested route from the friendly ranger going in, based on the time we wanted to hike, the day went like clockwork. We saw many beautiful birds, amazing landscapes and scenery, a continental divide, a cascading waterfall, a very old hollow gnarled tree, and a huge number of epiphytes and general flowers and plants. We spent the whole day here and were very sad to leave. What a wonderful place, so peaceful and well managed with the focus being on the health of the forest.

A public bus ride back to town, the last one for the day, and dinner at our favourite restaurant (you know the one) ended a perfect trip and lasting memories of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. For a better feeling of the cloud forest I will let the pictures do the talking...