Monteverde Cloud Forest

Editor's Pick Award

Our Editors awarded this travel blog entry for providing relevant information that may be useful and inspiring for other travelers.

making dinner in the kitchen

View more photos 

This weekend was amazing! Monteverde is by far one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. After a long, dusty, hot, and uncomfortable 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in the small tourist town of Santa Elena. We were picked up by Luz, the owner of the Cabinas Vista del Golfo (our hostel). The hostel was really nice! We had three bedrooms for 10 people, each with a private bathroom. I lucked out and got a double bed all to myself. ☺ The showers were actually HOT, which is something you don’t usually get around here. The view was magnificent. We could see into the valley and across to the gulf. There was also a nicely equipped kitchen where we cooked some pasta and canned veggies.

The following morning we got up bright and early (7am) to go to Selvatura to do a canopy tour and the walkways. The ziplines were amazing! It’s such an experience to fly over and through the rainforest. There were 12 ziplines in total and one tarzan swing. The swing was awesome! We were attached to a long rope hanging from a tree. We were then dropped from a very high platform and swung back and forth for awhile (like tarzan). ☺ It was pretty exciting.

our room

View more photos 

The walkways were amazing too! The rickety, swaying bridges were built right at the top of the canopy. So we could see way down to the bottom of the rainforest and across the tops of the trees as the misty clouds rolled through. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, the only fauna we saw was a huge snail stuck to a leaf. But it was beautiful just taking in all the flora of the rainforest.

When we returned from Selvatura, most of the group took a nap. But me, Jane, Sarah, and Becca went to the Jardín de Mariposas (Butterfly Garden). What a treat! We saw beautiful butterflies including the Blue Morpho, the Stained Glass Butterfly, and the Ghost butterfly. The Ghost butterfly had almost translucent wings. It was amazing!

But one of the coolest things about the Garden was the information we received. The tour was about 1 1/2 hours with a lady from Boston who was living in Costa Rica. She knew so much! After the butterflies, she took us to see the other bugs. In that room they had tons of live cocoons and hatched butterflies. But more fascinating were the other insects. There were two different live tarantulas. Tons of huuuge cockroaches, preying mantis, the elephant beetle, hercules beetle, and lots of other bugs. They were really interesting! So, that tour was really worth the money. the walk there was also nice. It was up through the tiny town of Santa Elena and along a small, shaded gravel road (all the roads in Santa Elena were gravel).

getting ready for the ziplines

View more photos 

That night we went to a pizza place which took foooorever to get us our food. Although it was delicious and worth the wait. We then went back to the hostel and played some cards and met a guy named Alexander from Athens, Greece. Later on, about half of the group went to a bar, but I stayed in and slept. I was exhausted.

The following day, we got up bright and early again and headed to the Monteverde Reserve. We hiked for about 4 hours through the rainforest. It was magnificent! There so much to experience in the rainforest. We were lucky and saw a Quetzal, claimed to be the most beautiful bird in the world! At the end of the trail, we saw a cuatis, which is a relative of the racoon.

After that we returned and had some typical food at a soda. Then we had an even longer trip back to San Jose: 6 looong and hot hours.

greg doing a zipline

View more photos 

Upon returning, I tried to do some homework, but went to sleep early. Today has been relaxed. We had class in the morning and now I'm on my break before we finish up spanish class.

Until next time!