What is a “cloud forest” is a question I offer here from customers of Package Costa Rica, my travel company? Costa Rica, being a tropical yet mountainous country, is home to many cloud forests. Monteverde is likely the most widely known of such forests and thousands of tourists visit it each year. But there are many others as well, like Poas National Park, Braulio Carrillo National Park, San Lorenzo and so on. A tropical cloud forest will form at a certain altitude that makes it quite different from a lowland rain forest. The vegetation is different. The animal life is different. You don’t find the the heavy rains that are experienced routinely in the rain forest, but the cloud forest stays shrouded in clouds most of the time, and thus very wet and humid almost always (hence the name). The biodiversity of Costa Rica’s cloud forests is astounding. I once heard an entomologist (a “bug” expert) put it this way. In a typical U.S. forest you may see in your field of vision three or more different varieties of trees. In a Costa Rican cloud forest in your field of vision you may not even see the same kind of tree. One of my favorite weekend stress relievers is to go driving up into the mountains deep into the cloud forest around Vara Blanca, or Toro Amarillo. It is a great escape from the hustle and bustle of San Jose. There is a little place I like to stop near the La Paz waterfall in Vara Blanca. It is where a Costa Rican family has opened their home to allow folks to get a great view of the San Fernando waterfall at the bottom of the gorge formed by the La Paz river. This is one of the larger falls in the country at about 90 meters in length. One day I want to make the hike down there, but I hear it is a bit treacherous. The Costa Rican family has placed bird feeders all around the balcony that attract the most amazing variety of birds, such as hummingbirds of every size and color, toucans, toucanets, oropendolas and many others. The beauty of the nature that surrounds the place is breathtaking. You just have to relax and slow down to take it all in. Living in the busy city sometimes we lose sight of the treasures that lie only a short distance away. It is another of those little things that make Costa Rica a really cool place.
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