DAY 1 - 3:

The Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest area is situated along the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, extending down both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. The temperature and humidity change dramatically over relatively short distances because the altitude climbs from just under 2,000 ft to more than 6,000 ft above sea level.

The vast difference in elevation creates ideal environments for a great diversity of plant life, from wind-sculpted dwarf woodlands on exposed ridges to protected cove forests with majestically towering trees decorated with orchids, bromeliads, ferns, vines and thick mosses.


Clouds drift in continually and settle among the slopes, providing a constant source of moisture that feeds the lush vegetation and gives the cloudforest its name. This wilderness is inhabited by more than 100 species of mammals, 120 species of reptiles and amphibians and 2,500 species of plants, including 420 different kinds of orchids living and reproducing endlessly.

Some spectacular wildlife inhabits the Cloud Forest, including jaguars, ocelots, barenecked umbrella birds and the awesome Quetzal, a beautiful and mystical native Costa Rican bird. Monteverde is a haven for birdwatchers, with more than 400 different species recorded in the forest. 

Visitors can hike through several  forests, and along the trails may chance upon clear crystal streams tumbling along, with bubbling rapids and singing waterfalls.

Three days here gives visitors ample opportunity to explore the  trails leading several miles through the forest.

There are also suspended bridges, platforms and paths, built within the cloudforest. The Hanging Bridges Tour allows a vision of the forest from a different perspective, which starts with a walk on the ground through the forest, then you go up to explore the tops of trees, a world which is very close but yet unknown to most, the canopy of the cloudforest.