(Monteverde, Costa Rica)

When clouds tend to perch at the top of the forest canopy, it is called a “cloud forest”.  Such forests get a lot of precipitation (up to 10,000 mm per year)…much of it in the form of “fog drip”.  This occurs when fog condenses on the canopy’s leaves and then drips onto the lush vegetation below.

This day’s activities began with our entire group taking a guided walk on the floor of the cloud forest.  While most of the other group members would be going on a ziplining adventure in the afternoon, my shoulder injury relegated me to an afternoon hike on suspension bridges over the forest canopy.  However, as you will see in my next post, this “consolation prize” turned out to have an extremely high value.

The hike along the forest floor was filled with the chirping of insects, various bird songs, rushing water, and ominous sounds from unseen frogs and toads.  It felt like a stereotypical rainforest without the steaming heat.

Because of all the moisture, one does have to be careful in the cloud forest.  It can be quite slippery on the mud or on the rocks that often form part of the trails.

Along the way, we saw another tarantula “cave”, dung beetles and various colourful flowers.  However, despite our guide’s best efforts, we didn’t really see much in the way of larger wildlife.  As previously noted, most of the cloud forest’s creatures are nocturnal and therefore aren’t particularly active during the day.

Even if we didn’t see much wildlife, it was still fun to actually see some of the cloud forest itself in natural light.  The previous night’s wildlife-spotting was fascinating but we didn’t really have a chance to get the “big picture” as we dashed from sighting to sighting in the darkness.

I had worked up a good appetite after all of that walking and forest scanning.  My tour leader had recommended a typical Costa Rican restaurant in Santa Elena called “Sabor Tico”.  “Sabor” means “flavour” and “Tico” is a name that Costa Ricans give themselves; it’s kind of like “Canuck” for Canadians.

The restaurant’s location on top of a mostly vacant mall didn’t look too promising but the restaurant turned out to be a great choice.  I had the Casado carne en salsa and it was excellent.  The beef was in a tasty tomato-based sauce and reminded me a bit of goulash.  I also found the sides of salad, fried plantain, yucca, rice and beans to be of a high standard.  With a little bit of chilero thrown in, I felt rejuvenated for the afternoon.  Just as good was the horchata beverage I had with it; while it’s not specific to Costa Rica, this “rice pudding milkshake” with vanilla and cinnamon was probably the most enjoyable drink I’ve had in Costa Rica so far.

It had been a good day already; stay tuned for an exciting afternoon on the cloud forest canopy!