Monteverde - Costa Rica

Typical transport on the rough roads

The Quakers
Monteverde was founded by Quakers. Back in the 1950s, a group of U.S. Quakers avoided being drafted in the Korean War by fleeing into the lush cloud forests of Costa Rica. They chose Costa Rica because it was a pacifist nation, settling in to what is now Monteverde. They began by farming the land then smartly decided to set aside the land for conservation. It later became the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve.

Monteverde

The transfer from La Fortuna to Monteverde began with a drive to the dam of Lake Arenal where we met our motor boat that whisked us across the beautiful waters of Lake Arenal. We enjoyed breathtaking views of the Arenal Volcano and the country side observing the birds on the water’s edge. On the other side of the lake we met our driver and continued on the rough, stoney road to Santa Elena passing by farms and small villages while crossing the mountains to Monteverde.

Monteverde translated as "Green Mountain," is a community in the cloud forest world-renowned for its conservation efforts and lifestyle centred on respect for nature. Perched on a high mountain ridge, this tiny, scattered village and surrounding cloud forest are well known among both scientific researchers and eco travellers.

Santa Elena is the area’s main service centre with various shops and tourism companies; other important towns are San Luis and San Gerardo. Though its main attraction is the Monteverde Biological Preserve, the region also features a variety of natural places, picturesque paths, flora- and fauna-watching opportunities, natural landscapes and more. The main road of the town has tarmac whilst all surrounding roads are rough stone. The route from Santa Elena south towards San Jose starts with a 20k rough stone road. Apparently, this will be tarmaced one day.

Sky Tram, & Sky Walk
The 5249 ft ride in the sky tram provides spectacular views over Arenal Lake and Volcano to the east and the Nicoya peninsula to the west. The sky walk is a combination of 5 wonderful suspension bridges and beautiful natural trails that take you through the breathtaking mountain scenery to observe amazing flora and fauna specimens, including different species of trees, lichens and orchids. We saw the two deadly green snakes basking at the top of the trees and a red striped tarantula buried in its hole.

Sky Tram

Nicoya Peninsula

View of Atenal Lake

View of Poas Volcano

Sky Walk

El Trapiche
The visit to this Costa Rican family project began with a walk on the farm where we learnt about the production of sugarcane, coffee, and the traditional ways of cultivating bananas, arracache (a local vegetable), avocado, macadamia nuts, as well as other products. We saw various flora and fauna of the Monteverde zone in the small forested area and also one of the first Tilapia fish projects. We saw the separating and grinding machines used to create the delicious coffee. Also on the farm there are oxen with a traditional cart that transported us to the sugarcane mill where we saw a demonstration of the process of making brown sugar and other types of products made from sugarcane. We then made our own sugar candy from the molassas.