Monteverde Cloud Forest Tour
3 days / 2 nights

Situated along the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve stretches down both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes. As the elevation increases from under 2,000 feet above sea level to over 6,000 feet, the temperature and humidity also change, markedly transforming the scenery. This diversity of altitude makes for several distinct environments that are home to a myriad of plant life. These include windswept highland woodlands on mountain peaks, and dense coves, nestled into valleys where giant trees stretch upward, their branches laden with orchids, bromeliads, and thick mosses. Visitors can explore everything from swamp forests to trails that run alongside clear mountain streams and rhythmic waterfalls.

A maximum of 120 visitors are allowed on the trails at any given time, thus sustaining the profound stillness and gentle splendor of the cloud forest. Three days gives visitors enough time to explore all seven trails that meander through the preserve.

Continually changing cloud cover brings a steady source of moisture, nourishing over 2,500 species of plants (including 420 different types of orchids), over 100 species of mammals, and 120 species of reptiles. The vegetation is lush and thick, and the air is cool and misty. Living within the 26,000-acre wilderness reserve are jaguars, ocelots, Barenecked Umbrella birds and the resplendent Quetzal, perhaps the most stunning native Costa Rican bird.

Monteverde, in fact, is a Mecca for bird watchers. Every year over 400 different species are sighted.

Also in the area is the Monteverde Butterfly Garden, offering an opportunity to observe hundreds of native butterflies as they perform their fluttering dances amid a vast tropical garden. In an adjacent room, you will uncover the secrets of the butterfly’s life cycle, including displays that highlight fuzzy caterpillars, delicate cocoons and the majestic winged creature’s colorful emergence in the world.

Above itinerary includes: Round-trip land transportation or rental car from San José; two nights lodging at the Hotel Fonda Vela or similar-quality lodge; guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and visit to the Monteverde Butterfly Garden.

Optional tours: Guided horseback riding and the Rain Forest Canopy Tour. This exhilarating tour opens up the cloud forest’s canopy, and allows you to witness the garden of mosses, flowers, ferns and epiphytes that grow high above the forest floor. The Canopy Tour is a series of suspended bridges, platforms and zip lines connecting trees deep inside the cloud forest. The highly recommended Sky Walk portion of the tour gives visitors a completely different perspective of the Monteverde forest. Five suspended bridges, towering 130 feet above the forest floor, allow visitors to walk into the treetops and examine up close this rarely seen world.