Destination Spotlight

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, located near the small town of Santa Elena in the province of Puntaneras, was founded about 40 years ago. This non-profit reserve is administered by the Tropical Science Center and is considered one of the most outstanding wildlife refuges in the New World tropics. Clouds go through the forest because of its high altitude, creating moisture and an abundance of wildlife like nowhere else in the world.

• Students hike through the magnificent Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and climb through the inside of a strangler fig tree. Students learn about the strangler fig and other rainforest plants and how they have evolved as they compete for light and food.
• At the top of the strangler fig, students begin their exhilarating canopy tour! Once hooked to the zip line, students soar across the treetops, through the clouds, and stop at several platforms with their naturalist guide to observe the wildlife that inhabits this truly unique ecosystem.

Did you know?

• The Monteverde Cloud Forest is situated on both the Pacific and Atlantic slopes of the Continental Divide.
• Quakers from the U.S. settled in this area during the 1950s.
• Within this reserve, there are six distinct ecological zones.

Links:

Monteverde Costa Rica