Chasm Between Climates: From Black Sand to Misty Cloud

For a small Central American country, Costa Rica has a lot of micro-climates. 

The Osa Peninsula, on the Pacific coast just 20 miles from Panama, boasts pristine black sand beaches and myriad plants and animals of the rainforest. The climate is hot and humid.

Go north along the coast toward Nicaragua, and you find more black sand beaches and rainforest. Still hot and humid. Head inland, however, and you climb. Climb toward the clouds and the rims of ancient volcanoes forming the eastern edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The heat and humidity drop away, and the flora and fauna adapt. 

I also adapted--gladly! The cool breezes of the cloud forest suited me much better than the sticky skin, damp towels, and biting sand flies of Osa, where I practiced yoga for a week (see previous blog post). 

National Geographic calls Monteverde "the jewel in the crown" of cloud forest reserves, where astounding numbers of plant and animal species are protected.

With an experienced guide, you can see (and hear) the Resplendent Quetzal, toucans and tanagers, redstarts, wrens, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, sloths, coatis, agoutis, tarantulas and wolf spiders, orchids, shrimp flowers, orange and yellow birds of paradise, ferns, mosses, towering avocado trees covered in epiphytes, and strangling ficus vines.

To name a few. 

I saw those and more in only one morning inside the reserve. The photos below are a small sample of the awesome abundance. If you go, I recommend my enthusiastic guide, Dennis Fernandez of Geo Expeditions.

I have but one complaint. Alas. My guide, Dennis, failed to find me a big cat (ocelots and pumas have been seen in the reserve). For that, I will have to return at night!

The Resplendent Quetzal is the most popular -- and elusive -- bird in the cloud forest. I got lucky! The guides communicate with each other constantly, sharing the locations of their sightings.

A separate photo of the quetzal's glorious tail.

Monkey tail fern. 

This tree fern (or fern tree) is about 10 feet across and 50 or 60 feet tall. I was looking down on it from a hanging bridge (see below).

Hanging bridge, my favorite place in the reserve. From up here you can see epiphytes and flowers growing near the tops of trees, where they get more sun. 

The thick overgrowth and intertwining makes it difficult to identify individual plants and trees, especially in the treetops.

Epiphytes are plants that live on trees but don't feed off them, i.e. not parasitic. They include bromeliads, orchids, ferns. Trees in the reserve, including this towering avocado tree, are covered with epiphytes.

Two close-ups of some epiphytes.

There is no shortage of pretty flowers in the cloud forest. What I found more interesting, though, are clusters of "berries" such as these, related to blueberries, and....

....these, on red stems, known as mountain corn.

Anole, a type of lizard. Close-up photo taken through my guide's zoom lens. 

This is an orchid! Growing on a leaf, way up in the treetops. There were more conventional orchids, too.

Slate-throated redstart.

Last but not least, every rainforest and cloud forest has to have a waterfall. And some visitors to enjoy it.