Rain Forest / Cloud Forest

Sunday

Up early again to meet our group Leo (lay-o) is our guide and he picks us up at 7:00 sharp - then on the bus for a drive out to the coast. We are a small group of travelers from California, Upstate New York, Ottawa Canada, and Vermont (in process of moving to Costa Rica). First out to the coast for a walk in a coastal rain forest. On the way crocodiles are basking in muddy water underneath a bridge. They pose in a yin-yang arrangement for me.

Very hot and humid in the rain forest, but no rain and we have a nice walk.  Scarlet macaws flash overhead,making a racket. A brilliant blue morpho butterfly has a drab brown underwing and is almost invisible when it lands. Tiny poison dart frog is hard to see in the underbrush - about the size of my fingernail. How did Leo spot that? Spider monkeys scamper overhead in the high tree canopy. A column of leafcutter ants share the elevated path with us to avoid a flooded area. A sequence of experiences, but not so many photo opportunities,  so I try to absorb and remember. Eyeglasses fog over in the humidity.

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The coast is 5 minutes drive away and lunch is freshly caught mahi mahi, fruit juice, salad, and rice. We are in a small fishing village visiting a woman who prepared this great meal. Oh, and little coconut balls for desert. Then a three hour drive to the Monteverde cloud forest region.

  

The community was pioneered by American Quakers in the 1950's, and it is pretty remote. 5000 ft elevation at the end of a long partially paved access road. We settle in for the night and are up early for along walk in the morning. It is misty and drippy, but comfortable with a mild breeze as we walk through endless trees, ferns and mosses. The elevation and the mist create a separate environment that is not found just a little way down the hill. We hike on a path that has a lot of ups and downs and would be extremely slippery if it wasn't constructed with long stretches of concrete trail blocks or raised wooden boardwalks. Not one slip by anyone all day. The midpoint of the hike toutches the continental divide where you can see th e Pacific and the Caribbean on a clear day. Right. Much wind, rain and mist, but no oceans.

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