Costa Rica: Cloud Forest Nature Preserve

Getting ready to leave for the day!

Our morning view while eating breakfast at our hotel

After breakfast we headed to Monteverde's Cloud Forest Nature Preserve!  Brad and I hiked through a cloud forest on our Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu and it was so cool, so I was excited to go to Monteverde’s.

 It was a gorgeous day, but being in a cloud forest it was misty off and on all day.  We were a little early for our tour so we went on a walk to the waterfall

some mushrooms on a tree

everything is so lush and green.  Its gorgeous!

So breathtaking

I'm a sucker for cool looking trees

And then, the real adventure began—we started our guided tour! Interestingly, we retraced our steps back to the waterfall, but this time, having a knowledgeable guide with us made all the difference as they pointed out animals, plants, and wildlife we had completely missed before.

The first sighting on our tour was truly extraordinary—a rare and endangered animal! Spotting this creature felt like such a privilege. It can only be found in tropical rainforests and cloud forests in Central America, making the encounter even more special.

This magnificent bird is deeply significant in Aztec and Mayan cultures and holds the title of Guatemala’s national bird. It’s so revered that it even appears on Guatemala’s flag 🇬🇹and currency! We were lucky enough to see the beautiful quetzal.

Using a telescope, we spotted the quetzal perched high in a tree. All I could see was vibrant turquoise tail feathers against the forest canopy, our tour guide was so excited. I wasn’t able to take a picture as we had to look quickly so  everyone could get a turn to look though the telescope before the bird flew away, so I’ve included some online images below to showcase the beauty of this incredible bird:

Next up we saw a tarantula, it was living in a cave just along the walking path. This female has been living in her cave for over 10 years and just had babies a month ago. I found out though that most of the babies have left and their were only a few left living with her, but if they dying leave soon the mama will forget they are her children and will get hungry enough that she’ll eat whoever’s left. Logan was absolutely petrified. He refused to look through the telescope or even glimpse towards the cave. He was terrified. And especially hated knowing that we had earlier walked right past and didn’t even know that a giant spider was right there.

But look at the amazing picture our tour guide got of her through the telescope! He’s a pro

A beautiful rare orchid. (The yellow flower) I can’t remember if it was this orchid or another one but it smells like blood. Interesting…

Saw another pit viper! This one asleep since it was daytime, and again our tour guide (who could also be a nature photographer) risked his life for me by getting this close to the snake for this awesome picture.

Made it to the waterfall again 😆

Again I love a cool tree. This one the outside trees liked the original tree so the inside is hollow where it used to be. And now has a bat colony living inside it.

Then we saw and smelled the wild pigs. They came out from the ditch and walked right in front of us! It was so cool, but goodness are they smelly!!

One of the coolest things or guide told us about was how the cloud forest is famous for rare orchids. People come from all over the world to look at the orchids there. It’s illegal to pick them, but people still try. He said in fact unless you’re an orchid enthusiast you would never know, but that the most rare and expensive orchid is actually at the entrance and very unexpecting. Just one orchid is thousands of dollars. So after our tour ended I of course had to ask to see it. Sure enough just right by the bathrooms was this beautiful orchid. I wouldn’t have thought much of it if he didn’t point it out to me.

After the tour we wanted to go the hanging bridge, on our way we walked right next to this guy (a coatimundi). He actually let me get up right close and personal. 

Brad and the two older boys walked right past him! Don’t know how they missed him they were too engrossed in conversation.

Just a beautiful tree canopy.

See it’s like walking in a fairytale. 

Saw this amazing transparent butterfly!

Made it to the hanging bridge!

After our day in the clouds, we went back our hotel where they were offering cake and coffee for an afternoon snack (the cake was amazing! With a yummy passion fruit glaze 🤤 ) anyway we were watching the beautiful birds while eating cake…

When this guy swooped in and ate my cake! No apology, just stared at me with that guilty face. I mean it was an yummy cake so I don’t blame him.

That night, we had the most delicious tacos for dinner. You know the food is amazing when you find yourself taking pictures just to remember it. But the real highlight of the evening? The “funny-tasting” mango smoothies we ordered for the boys.

When they took a sip, they immediately said something was off. Yep, turns out their “mocktails” weren’t so mock after all—they had alcohol in them! When we mentioned it to the waiter, he insisted they were non-alcoholic but offered to remake them anyway. Let’s just say the drinks were strong enough to leave no doubt.

Logan thought it was hilarious that he accidentally tried alcohol for the first time and joked that we were trying to get him drunk. It made for a funny memory to cap off the night. Pura Vida!