Monteverde Costa Rica
Santa Elena
It’s challenging to consistently write about my experiences while steadily on the move. I traveled with my big beautiful journal, a collection of colorful pens and a camera for the purpose of documentation. It’s the job of these tools to record thoughts, emotions and observations in a given moment and they do that job exceptionally well, when used as directed. I bring this up now out of pure frustration. It’s been a formidable task remembering Santa Elena, in part because I neglected my tools. My journal entries are scarce, my photos are inadequate and Im sad about it.
Of this I am certain, I was not alone as I explored. What began with me tagging along on a day trip, transformed into a full blown travel duo as we departed Ometepe, Nicaragua. Our first stop after crossing the overland boarder from Nicaragua into Costa Rica, unscathed and without proof of onward travel, was the city of Santa Elena, located in the mountainous region of Monteverde.
I chose to head inland instead of the beaches of the Pacific because, ultimately, I was aiming toward the Caribbean and overland boarder crossing from Sixaloa, Costa Rica into Panama. I chose Monteverde because I thought it was gonna be an exotic place where you could get up close and personal with giraffes. Yes, it’s a little sad but it’s also 100% true.
The place turns out to be @ 4,600 ft above sea level and is renowned as an ecotourism destination since its home to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, which also happens to be one of the world’s most visited cloud forests. What do you know, an opportunity to see things from a giraffes point of view. Except, I didn’t actually visit the Monteverde Biological Reserve. I think we picked the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve instead, hoping it would be less crowded, have better visibility and more opportunities to see wildlife.
I’d say traversing the cloud forest suspension bridges by day and traipsing through a private reserve in search of nocturnal critters on a night walk tour was an incredibly exotic adventure, no giraffes needed.
