The cloud forest of Monteverde never ceases to amaze us, and this time we went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, a place with more than 13 km of trails full of flora and fauna in the cone of the mountain.

How to get there? To get to Monteverde you have to go by route 1, Interamericana Norte and exit in Sardinal on the right, then follow the road for just under an hour (this if they go without stopping) and you reach the center of Santa Elena, from here you have to cross the village and go up until you find the Monteverde Reserve of the Tropical Science Center.

Waze: Distance: 6km Difficulty: Easy-Moderate Accessibility: Not accessible

What to bring? Comfortable clothes for walking, trail tennis shoes, waterproof jacket, insect repellent, headlamp, sunblock and a change of clothes since you might get wet.

Vehicle: Automobile or High Wagon Parking: Yes Pets: No Camping: No Contact: Email: [email protected] Tel: (+506) 2645-5122 Cost: $ 5 entrance

Last year we had tried to get to visit as many places as we could in Monteverde and Monteverde 1 and Monteverde 2 weekend blogs proved that, but it is such a cool place that we still had some trails to go and one of these was the Monteverde Reserve.

We left early for Monteverde, we only stopped a sec to buy snacks and to fill the tank. We arrived at Santa Elena at around 11 am, and after a mini-tour in the center, we went to eat delicious ice cream at the Monteverde ice cream shop on the way to the reserve. When we arrived at the reserve they welcomed us like kings and after getting all our stuff out we went to have lunch at the local soda.

The lunch was delicious and we were so full that we asked for a cup of coffee so we could digest and start the walk. Then we grabbed our jacket, cameras, and went to walk to a lookout called La Ventana. The route is awesome, all under the shade of the cloud forest characteristic of the area, you can also see a variety of beautiful birds and plants. After about 3 km we arrived at La Ventana, this place is the top of the mountain that divides the Atlantic and the Pacific, and you can see how the clouds of the Caribbean come in to fill the mountains of Monteverde with humidity. It's good to go early because the later you go ... the more likely it is to be cloudy and raining.

Afterward, we returned from another, even better, route, which passes through a suspension bridge that is epic, where you can appreciate nature from another perspective that is never out of style, this is from the top of the trees. After crossing the bridge we continued along the path until we came across our first quetzal! We had always wanted to see one live and full color but had never had the opportunity ... of course thanks to the reserve guide this was easier because they know where this species nests.

After walking we went for a coffee while we waited until 6 pm to go to the guided night tour in the same reserve. Already with our headlamp gear on, we started to walk very slowly because only at night you get to see a lot of interesting bugs that will surprise you. The tour lasted about an hour and a half and we saw a sloth, turkey, tarantulas, phasmids and leaf insects among many others.

When we finished this we were quite hungry so we went to eat at a tasty restaurant going down about 10 minutes from the reserve called Tramonti and after lunch, we went to rest.

The next day we had a full breakfast and we got ready to walk the trails and get to know the reserve's waterfall. On the way, we stopped for half an hour to look for the quetzal again but we did not see it, then we followed the trail seeing different birds until we reached the waterfall. The waterfall is small, but the scenic beauty of the place is great, it also has a small deck-viewpoint to appreciate the place and take the best pictures. After the waterfall, it started to sprinkle a bit so we started to walk back to the entrance of the reserve and thus prepare our staff to return to the city.

DATE OF WALK: APRIL 2018