Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

Mist is part of the deal at Monteverde. It hangs between enormous trees, beads on leaves and turns the forest into a dense green tangle of moss, orchids and bromeliads. Trails climb through it towards hanging bridges and viewpoints along Costa Rica’s Continental Divide, although the cloud occasionally decides there will be no view at all.

The backstory is wonderfully unexpected. In 1951, a group of American Quakers settled here, attracted partly by Costa Rica’s decision to abolish its army. They farmed dairy cattle, made cheese and protected sections of upper forest because they needed reliable water. Biology came later, although rather spectacularly. In 1972, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve began with 328 hectares; today it protects roughly 4,100.

More than 400 bird species have been recorded here, including the resplendent quetzal. Monteverde was also the only known home of the golden toad, a brilliant orange amphibian last seen in 1989.

Come for the cloud forest, then. Just be prepared to discover that Quakers, cheese and one vanished orange toad are part of the story too.