Into The Cloud Forest: From The Sea To The Sky

Bidding farewell to Reymar is like saying goodbye to a friend, he has been one of the most helpful and sociable hosts we have ever had on our travels. As we pull out of Quepos bus station, we are very conscious of leaving the lovely high temperatures behind as we head towards the colder air of the mountains and cloud forests.

The bus journey from Quepos to Monteverde is a bit less comfortable than the earlier journey from San Jose, in fact it borders on gruelling by the end of the long day. First it’s three and a half hours along the Pacific coast to Puntarenas where, after a bit of shenanigan trying to find the correct bus stop, we board a second bus to climb from sea level to the village of Santa Elena, 4,360 feet higher.

This second phase takes another three and a half hours, in a bone-shaker of a bus rammed with ever changing passengers – we stop very regularly – in which the driver maxes the revs in the powerful motor in order to climb the mountain roads, often in first gear. It’s loud and it’s bumpy, it’s crowded and it’s cramped. But it’s exceptionally cheap!

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In the end, we arrive in Santa Elena after dark and can feel the cooler mountain air straight away. The conjoined villages of Monteverde and Santa Elena form a strip of civilisation between two extensive cloud forests hugging the top of the lush green mountains. This is the point where, at the highest point of the continental tectonic divide, the dry salty air from the Pacific meets the warm wet winds of the Caribbean, forming dense wet clouds which hang above the forest in perpetuity.

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The result is a rare genuine cloud forest, home to over 400 species of bird, 100 mammal types and 1200 amphibian and reptile species: there aren’t too many places like this on Earth. Precipitation forms and falls as persistent rain, which together with the presence of the cloud, soaks everything and creates the wondrous tropical sights of the cloud forest.

Water runs and drips from everything, moss grows rampant on every tree. Except, somewhat incongruously, the first of our two days hiking here is sunny, dry and warm. Of course the cloud is here, but lighter than usual and we walk in blue skies and bright sunshine for much of the day, following trails around the forest and crossing several lofty hanging bridges which sway beneath our feet as we walk.

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It’s fascinating to study the giant trees and dense jungle like growth, but in truth the forest here is so dense that, by definition, views are limited. Fascinating, but limited in scope. After completing the trails we visit an amazing butterfly garden where we are able to study at closer quarters the beautiful species we’ve been seeing on our Costa Rica walks. One such is the giant blue morpho which drifts through the air like a sweet wrapper on the breeze, iridescent blue flashing bright in the shadows.

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As if our first day wasn’t enough of a surprise, our second is even more sunny, and considerably warmer – we really didn’t expect this, we thought we’d be being drenched and wearing waterproofs throughout our time here. Instead, we’ve caught two rare days of summer in a cloud forest which receives 102 inches of rainfall per year and has only a handful of dry sunny days.

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Watch the Coatis here….

Wildlife spotting is more difficult here than in Manuel Antonio; the forest is extremely dense and a high percentage of the fauna is nocturnal. We do catch some great sightings (tarantula, coati, giant bugs) but in comparison to MA the results here are modest. However the cable car journey up and over the highest point of the forest is spectacular, affording views to the conical Arenal volcano one way and back to the Pacific coast the other.

Santa Elena itself is a small community dominated by activities for visitors – there are adrenaline fuelled adventures like zip lining, rafting and canyoning available as well as hiking and horse riding, etc. Tour operators are everywhere and backpacker hostels and small lodge hotels like ours are dotted around the village. Evenings buzz as visitors return to discuss their day’s activities over a beer or two. We’ve experienced places like this before: village communities grown to service visitor activity, most recently in the Croatian lakes and in Paliokastro in Crete, where there was a similar convivial evening vibe as everyone unwinds by sharing their stories. 

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Wherever you stand in the small hilly centre of Santa Elena, you look up at the lush green mountainsides climbing up and away from the village in every direction – it’s a very relaxing feeling. So is sipping cold draught Imperial beer in Bar Amigos, the second decent bar of this trip after El Gran Escape in Quepos.

The abundant wildlife of Costa Rica includes a ridiculous number of amphibians, many of them with startling colours and characteristics. We took the following series of photographs on an evening visit to the “frog pond”, a specialist reserve in Santa Elena village:

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On one level we feel we are leaving Monteverde and Santa Elena a little too soon, there are things we would have done here had we given ourselves more time. Our to do list for the rest of this trip is steadily growing as a result. Leaving here with tans topped up and without seeing a spot of rain, though, is a completely unexpected outcome.