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COSTA RICA | Monteverde, Costa Rica Travel Guide
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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Monteverde Cloud Forest
Entrance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica (cc)
Photo: Darwinek
The Monteverde Cloud Forest is a diverse biological wonderland that contains old-growth trees, favored habitat of the spectacular quetzal. But it is also home to 400 other kinds of birds, including 30 types of hummingbirds and such odd specimens as three-wattled bellbirds and bare-necked umbrella birds. Ground-dwelling residents include the powerful jaguar, the ocelot and the tapir, 2,500 species of plants (including 420 kinds of orchids) and 1,200 amphibian and reptile species. Because there is so much to see, it’s best to have a guide who knows where to look for wildlife in the wild. Guided tours run about US $15 per person and night tours, when it’s not raining, start at 7 pm. You can reserve a guide on-line at guide@monteverdeinfo.com. An excellent website focusing on both Monteverde and the Santa Elena area is www.monteverdeinfo.com.
If you’re driving the Inter-American Highway there are two routes up the mountain. Both feature hard driving on rough roads – a conscious effort by the Monteverde community to slow development by jarring your kidneys. The southern route from San José is just before the Río Lagarto Bridge at Km 149; look for a tiny sign on a bar to the right. There’s also a shortcut south of the Lagarto Bridge at Río Sardinal, which joins the Lagarto road, but this “shortcut” may sometimes take longer because the road is often in terrible shape.
The northern route is better marked and leaves the highway at the turn for Las Juntas. It’s a good road for a third of the way up the mountain, and then it deteriorates to be as bad as the other. Follow the sign in Juntas for San Rafael, not Los Dos. Monteverde is two hours from the highway and about four hours from San José. If you have time, check out Las Juntas, once the gold-mining capital of Costa Rica. It has an Eco Museo outside town with trails leading to an old gold mine. Boston – yes Boston – is a nearby town with an active gold-mining cooperative that you can visit. Call Mina Tours (506/662-0753) for an escorted tour.
Outside the reserve there is an excellent hike to the top of Cerro Amigos, along the dirt road to the Television Tower. The road begins just before the gas station on the road to Monteverde and passes the Hotel Bel Mar. It’s about 3½ hours round-trip. On a clear day, you can see forever from the 1,842-meter/6,000-foot peak.
Last updated October 28, 2010
Posted in Costa Rica | Monteverde
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