Cloud Forest Chill

Starting at 5:30 AM and stopping for breakfast on the way to the Cloud Forest.
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This was my place of desire to see this cloud forest.  No that is not a fancy word for fog.  We walked for over two hours across sky bridges suspended in this cloud forest above the canopy.  Zip line tours extended over our heads and seemed quite exciting to have tried but those people see very little of the real vegetation or habitats.  I was pleased that we did not run into snakes including vipers.  Our pictures won't capture the beauty.  It will have to exist in our heads.  As we traveled across eight different sky walks and up and down trails that had concrete patched path ways we saw birds and vegatation that was only see previously in movies such as Jurasic Park. The size of plant leaves, ferns, and the lush vegatation were there in front of us like a feast on Thanksgiving day.  The infamous Quetzal bird was seen flying from treetop to treetop but with an obstructed view of trees and branches.  Oh for just a closer look at that deity's plumage!   The magical mist of the Cloud Forest would come in waves - clouds snuck up on us and gave us a fine mist and then moved on with the sun peering out and then another wave of the mist and clouds.  We then ate at the Cloud Forest Lodge.  Many hillside bed and breakfast or small inns were tucked along the hillsides as we wound our way to the Lodge.  All the while I wondered who and how did they haul all of the materials up this way to build these lovely places.  We ended the tour by visiting a butterfly farm and learned about insects of this region and who becomes a host to who.  This was a very long 16 hour day of driving on bumpy roads, long winding hillsides.  And no they do not plan to pave the roads.  Imagine how many tourists would come then and ruin their landscape if it was so easy to get there!

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