Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

Santa Elena Reserve rainforest in Monteverde is community owned and ran.  There are five walking trails and we covered two of them in our 4.5 hours in the Park - Y Challenge and Del Bajo. And most of the time we had the trails to ourselves, it was so quiet!

It really was about the flora rather than the fauna in this wonderfully atmospheric place.  It’s very lush with moss, ferns and flowers growing thickly on the trees. The clouds give the plants the continuous moisture they need. Roots and vines dangle from the trees.  We saw a few ‘bugs’, butterflies and birds including a fleeting sighting of the elusive quetzal bird!  Famous for their bright blue / green wings, red belly and three feet long feathered tail some say it is the most beautiful bird in the world.

The Park sits at 560O feet.  You can see all the way to the Arenal Volcano and Miravalles Volcanoes although the clouds obscured our views!

Mister F and I opted to spend most of the day at Santa Elena before we walked 'next door' to Selvatura Park to meet up with the others we're travelling with - they'd been attracted by the prospect of ziplining through the rainforest!