Costa Rica 2019 Day 4 - Monteverde: Cloud Biological Reserve

Had a bright and early start today. I left the hotel a little before 7am, and unfortunately did not have time for a proper breakfast. It was a hodgepodge of snacks and protein bars like last night.

The wind was very strong this morning as well. Less continuous compared to last night, but really strong gusts. I was wondering how it would impact the cloud forest...

The drive to the Monteverde Cloud Biological Reserve is around 15 minutes away. And the roads, while not entirely smooth, are still in better condition than the bumpy ones coming to Monteverde.

Oscar had advised me to park (free) in the first big parking lot that I reach, where attendants guide you into a spot.  From there, a shuttle takes you up to the entrance. Apparently this is the preferred method, as opposed to finding parking along the side near the entrance, because there was recently a break in up there. If the car is in the lot, there are a couple employees that are stationed there and watch over.

I met Oscar at 7:30am, and we waited 15 minutes for the other tour-participant from last night..but she and her husband were running too late and large tour buses started arriving. It was getting too full and busy, and Oscar was getting anxious and we had to just start.  A private tour for me!  (For the first 45 minutes at least).

Map of trails at Monteverde Cloud Forest

We reached one of the first areas at the perfect time, as there were many spider monkeys! High in the trees, swinging by as they ate and grazed for wild avocados. There must have been at least 20 of them passing by, with a couple baby sightings too. It was so incredible seeing the monkeys balance on the weak-looking branches, using their tails in such a precise way.

The monkeys were so active in the area that they scared off a lot of birds, especially the rare quetzals. Not that they are enemies at all, but they both compete for the same wild avocado food source, and the monkeys poke at and harass the quetzals.

While in the spider monkey zone, we coincidentally ran into the late tour participants, who had joined another group. They ended up switching over to our group at this time.

Howler monkey

The rare and beautiful Quetzal

We left this particular area, and after some time, were able to spot two quetzals! So beautiful and unreal. Their colors are incredibly bright, the tail feathers so elegant. It is so rare to see them, I felt so fortunate to be able to experience this! There are also a couple quetzal nests (with cameras pointing at them).  Oscar also pointed out one sad nest in a tree trunk that was patched up with some metal. It used to be a nest with a couple babies, but millions of ants got in there. Of the two, one baby fell out and died, and the other kept trying to fly around inside the nest but was stuck, eventually getting consumed by the ants.

We also saw a number of hummingbirds. One got confused seeing my brightly colored sweater, and dove at my face until it realized it wasn't a flower. One interesting fact about male hummingbirds--when they fight, one technique used is to try and slice the other's skin right underneath the wing. Like a paper cut, but could prove deadly to a small hummingbird that could bleed out.

Many wrens were seen as well. Apparently, if the male and female birds physically look the same, it means they are bonded for life. So interesting. Otherwise, non-monogomy males typically look flashier and need to impress any, and many, females.

Oscar was really impressive when he was able to spot a dead wasp on a leaf. A tiny dead wasp! The story behind its death was so interesting.  The wasp had some long, white looking hairs coming out of its body. Turns out that this was a certain type of mushroom, the cordiceps mushroom. Its particles look for a host insect body, where it grows inside the brain and eventually begins controlling the insect. Once the insect dies, the mushroom ligaments / fibers continuing growing so much that it explodes out of the insect's eyes and body. Such a crazy real-life alien story.

We headed to the hummingbird feeder area (do not miss this!) which is before you enter the reserve. Must have been 10-15 feeders, with at least 50 hummingbirds!  Beautiful to see the varieties up close.

At this point the tour was officially over. I was so tired and hungry, but wanted to explore other areas of the reserve on my own time. So, I recharged with a sandwich at the cafe, and rested for a while first.

Nicely maintained trail

Hanging bridge at Cloud Forest

After re-entering, I walked the Sendero Camino trail to get to the hanging bridge. The trail actually reminded me of Washington hikes. A lot of moss. Along the trail, there was less animal activity compared to the morning. Many birds chirping though. Overall, it was fairly quiet, and I crossed paths with four people.

The bridge itself offers a cool perspective. There was such a special view of the tree canopy. I didn't see a lot of clouds from this view though. Also, it shakes a good amount when people walk on it.

I took the Sendero Wilford Guindon trail back to the reception. It was also very quiet, and only ran into two people. The trail is lined in concrete pavers most of the way.

At the reception, the shuttle buses picked up folks to head back down to the lot. I got confused though and didn't realize which were the buses, and assumed the ones I saw belonged to other private tour groups. Ugh what a mistake. I waited over half an hour, when the reception man finally told me to take one down. There must have been two that I just watched pass by though. Oh well.

I was exhausted. Six hours at the reserve!  I picked up some more protein-esque bars from the grocery store on the way back, and was planning on just resting and taking it easy the rest of the day. Didn't want to drain myself more.

For dinner, I went somewhere nearby.  Literally two doors down was a small soda, Soda La Armistad.  A local, small restaurant that served a delicious casada meal. The veggies with the meal were so good.

Casada at Soda La Armisad

After this, I just wanted to rest. The wind continued being strong and loud. I had no idea that this happens often here!

Tomorrow I take my last long drive and head to La Fortuna.