I was up at the crack of dawn having gotten to bed early the night before and enjoyed watching the birds from the balcony of our room.  My husband decided to sleep in so I went to the reception to request a taxi to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve.

The bulk of Monteverde’s rain forest and cloud forest can be found in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a private nature reserve created in 1972 by scientist George Powell and Quaker Wilford Guindon. The area around the park entrance is the most visited, though camping deep in the reserve is possible with reservations. Nine main trails, which total 13 km, are well-kept and easy to access. The reserve features a large network of less accessible trails and a number of rustic research stations, two of which house 10 persons each, as well as one research station that can house as many as 43 persons, though these can now only be used by researchers.

Admission for foreigners is $17 and you can also book a guided tour for $32.  After a 10-minute DVD presentation providing an introductory view of the cloud forest flora and fauna, an experienced nature guide will lead you on a 2 1/2-hour walk on MCFBR trails, where you can make your own in situ observations.  Schedule: 7:30 am, 12md, 1:00 pm.

Since we had booked onward transportation, I wasn’t able to do the guided tour and had to walk on ahead, hoping to see more Resplendant Quetzals.  The actual bird list is very impressive and they put out hummingbird feeders so it can be very enjoyable to just relax and watch the tiny jewel-toned hummingbirds come and go.  This time, I didn’t get lucky enough to see a Quetzal so I contented myself with the hummingbirds while I waited for the taxi to come back and pick me up which he did, right on time.  Next time, I would spend one more night here to allow more time for the guided tour as I do think the local guides are much better at spotting the birds than tourists are.