About Monteverde Cloud Forest
The Monteverde Cloud Forest is a very unique eco-system located up in the Costa Rican Mountains, a refreshing place where nature can be appreciated at its best. Monteverde has become one of the 3 main touristic attractions of Costa Rica in the past 2 decades triggered by the creation of the Cloud Forest Hanging Bridges, a series of suspension walkways with jungle trails from where the Cloud Forest can be truly appreciated, from the ground and from the top.
The main town of the Monteverde area is called Santa Elena, which is a small rural Costa Rican town that was historically dedicated to cattle rising and agriculture, but nowadays is mostly dedicated to tourism; many of the old-time farmers have forgotten about their traditional activities and are now working in tourism. Due to this the touristic platform is growing in Monteverde, with many hotels, restaurants, shops and activities for the visitors.
It is important to mention that Monteverde has lots of protected land, but none of the reserves created in this region of the country are Costa Rican National Parks or Public Reserves; all of the protected areas have been created by private organizations backed up by scientists who are very interested in protecting our Cloud Forest, which is a very complex and rare eco-system. All of the reserves in this area have nature trails and activities for public visitation and scientific studies, being the most important the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, the Curicancha Reserve, the Selvatura Park and the Children’s’ Eternal Rainforest, which is a fund raising foreign school that raises money to buy land for the protection of the Rainforest, Cloud Forest and its Wildlife.
Some of the many activities that can be done in Monteverde are the Cloud Forest Hanging Bridges, which is the most popular activity, being the best the one at Selvatura Park. This park offers much more than the hanging bridges, the visitors can also enjoy of a hummingbird sanctuary, a butterfly garden, a snakes’ exhibit, nature trails and zip lining. Monteverde also offers activities like nature walks in the Cloud Forest Reserves, Coffee Tours, Traditional Farming tours, Horseback Riding, Cloud Forest Night Walks, Zip lining, Aerial Tram and Bungee Jumping among many others.
