The Monteverde Cloud Forest

The Monteverde Cloud Forest is one of the most magical natural environments in Costa Rica, a mist-shrouded, dripping world high in the mountains where the constant cloud nourishes towering trees draped in mosses, ferns, orchids and bromeliads. Alive with extraordinary biodiversity, from the resplendent quetzal to hummingbirds and monkeys, this ethereal forest is explored on trails, on a network of hanging bridges through the canopy, and, thrillingly, by zip-line high above the treetops.

History

In 1951 several dozen Quakers from eleven families in Alabama came to farm here, choosing Costa Rica because it had abolished its army three years earlier, and named the place Monteverde, green mountain. Biologists began to arrive in the 1960s, and in 1968 Joseph Tosi of the Tropical Science Center and Leslie Holdridge urged the community of the Quaker leader Hubert Mendenhall to keep the native forest, to protect its water sources and as a windbreak. In 1972 the graduate student George Powell, studying the area's birds and the habitat of the endemic golden toad, won a promise of 328 hectares from the Guacimal Land Company, which the Tropical Science Center acquired in April 1973 for a symbolic one colón; with the biologist Adelaida Chaverri and Christopher Vaughn he worked to establish the reserve, which now covers more than 10,500 hectares (Wikipedia, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve).

Highlights

• The cloud forest - the misty, moss-draped forest and its trails.
• The hanging bridges - the walkways through the forest canopy.
• The zip-lines - the canopy tours soaring over the treetops.
• The wildlife - the quetzals, hummingbirds and monkeys.

When to go

December to April, the dry season, for the least rain, though this is a cloud forest, so mist, drizzle and cloud are part of the experience year-round, so bring a rain layer any time. The famous quetzal is most often seen in the breeding season around spring.

Things to know

It is a cloud forest, so it is genuinely misty, wet and cool, which is the magic but surprises those expecting tropical sunshine; bring warm and waterproof layers. Wildlife, including the famous quetzal, is elusive, so a guide greatly improves your chances of seeing it. The roads up are rough and winding. It is popular, so trails and zip-lines can be busy.

Nearby

Arenal Volcano is across the lake; the Pacific beaches are within reach.

Key facts