Monteverde

Last weekend I took a trip to Monteverde with a group of students. Monteverde is a region in Costa Rica north of San Jose known for its incredible rainforests and cloud forests that give life to a huge array of wildlife and plant life. I had never heard the term cloud forest before arriving in Costa Rica; it is a tropical evergreen forest characterized by persistent fog - basically a damp, misty forest. Though this prompted me to expect overcast weather and maybe some rain here or there, I did not expect the monsoon that we endured.

The group had reserved a trip for zip lining/canopy tours through the top of the trees. It was pretty amazing to fly through and over the trees, but it rained the entire time. Not a warm rain, either. By the end we were all wet, cold, dirty, tired, and ready for a nap. Fortunately our hotel was one of the nicest in the region and we got to relish in the oversized comfortable beds and hot showers.

view from our hotel

a tad bit dirty

cloud forest that we zip lined through

the not so sturdy bridges we trekked

The next day we explored the small town of Santa Elena. And when I say small, I mean literally a block of shops and restaurants. One restaurant named the Treehouse was exactly like the Rainforest Cafe back home, only it was actually the rainforest. There was also a quaint little art studio that reminded me so much of Rebekah.

gazebo art studio

www.monteverdearthouse.com

entrance to the Tree House restaurant