Lucky to see the rarely seen Resplendent Quetzal at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Dates visited: December 27, 2012 – December 30, 2012
Monteverde was the best part of my Costa Rica vacation for the varied activities we did here. We started out with a guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and had an exciting time learning about the flora and fauna. The icing on the cake was when we spotted the magnificent, but elusive Resplendent Quetzal!
The next highlight was the tour of a Costa Rican farm where we learned how to make coffee, chocolate and panela (solid piece of sucrose obtained from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice). We even got to taste guaro (cane liquor).
Yet another highlight was the zip lining activity in a private reserve of the Monteverde cloud forest. We were soaring over and through the tall trees like birds that knew no fear and had no worries. We also did a night time hike in the forest and the experience was completely different.
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- Taking in the gentle breeze on the way to Monteverde
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- Suit up… …for zip lining!
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- Huge fern at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve… …a similar one was used in Jurassic Park
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- The cows were in no hurry at all
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- So, where do I want to go?
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- Zip lining in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve: Wheeeee… …here I come!
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- Sugarcanes on a farm tour
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- Oxen helping with extracting sugarcane juice
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- Jacket – check, Bug spray – check, binoculars – check, posing for a picture – check, NOW let’s go hiking in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
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- Small cascading waterfall amidst lush greenery at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
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- Worm’s eye-view from inside a tree—it is hollow because the original tree was taken over by Ficus aurea (aka strangler fig) that strangled the original tree till it completely died! The strangler fig is now a freestanding tree in its own right but the original tree inside is gone!
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- Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve—with 100% humidity, up to 300 species of plants grow on top of other trees
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- This was a first for me—a pink urinal inside the men’s room!
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- Zp-lining through the canopies at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
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- It’s called the Giraffe Tree
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- Coffee beans… …ripe for pickin’
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- Plantation worker showing his haul of coffee beans
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- Grining dried coffee beans
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- Enjoying sugarcane juice… …thanks to the oxen that helped!
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- Loved the symmetrical design… …made by insect bites when the leaf was rolled up
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- Caterpillar crossing ahead!
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- A fruit bat eating a… …, well, fruit!
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- Red-eyed tree frog—the pride of Costa rica
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- At the Monteverde Cheese Factory… …we tried the cheese, but loved the ice cream
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- Armed with magnifying glasses at Monteverde Orchid Garden to see the smallest orchid in the world!
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- Not the smallest orchid in the world, but still pretty darn small… …at Monteverde Orchid Garden
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- On a night hike… …
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- Look closely, and you will see a butterfly in there
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- A grasshopper, out to catch its meal
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- Tarantula guarding its burrow