Monteverde

Monteverde is not only the name of a small town but the name is also used to describe the whole zone. There are three communities in the "urban area": Santa Elena is the largest, with a bank, shops and the local high school, and then next along the road is Cerro Plano and finally, Monteverde.

There are two routes to the Monteverde area . The one near Kilometer 134 goes through Sardinal (paved for a short distance) and the other begins near Kilometer 149 just before the bridge over the Rio Lagarto. The two join near Guacimal for the final climb. The bumpy road gives occasional breathtaking views of the lowlands below as you climb on

roads that seem to hang by grace along the edge of the mountains. As you wind through thin clouds, cows across deep valleys look like brown or white dots scattered on the steep pastures. The slow going gives the visitor plenty of time to enjoy.

Besides the natural beauty of the place, the tiny, progressive community of Monteverde is itself worth a visit. Quakers from North America came here in 1951, drawn by Costa Rica's disarmed environment. They set up a business that now makes some the finest cheeses in the country. The Quakers bought milk form neighbouring farmers and invited them to become shareholders _ today there are about 430, including milk producers, employees and neighbours.

		The main temperature at Monteverde is 56ºF to 68ºF (16ºC-20º). The average annual rainfall is about 118 inches (3,000 mm) but it can get up to 236 inches (6,000 mm) in the reserve. There are a growing number of options for the nature traveller in the Monteverde area. Butterfly gardens, guided hiking tours

through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve or the Santa Elena Private Reserve, canopy tours, walking bridges, horseback riding.

Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve has earned its fame as one of the most outstanding wildlife sanctuaries in the New World tropics. Positioned atop the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, the Preserve extends down both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. The resultant combination of climatic and geographic factors creates temperature and humidity gradients which change dramatically over relatively short distances. The altitude varies from about 600 meters in the lower reaches of the Peñas Blancas River, to 1842 meters at the top of Cerro Tres Amigos.

The Preserve supports six different vegetation communities (Life Zones). There are over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 120 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 2,500 species of plants (among them 420 different kinds of orchids), as well as tens of thousands of insect species. Spectacular wildlife includes the Jaguar, Ocelot, Baird´s Tapir, Three-wattled Bellbird, Bare necked Umbrella-bird and Resplendent Quetzal.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve is a biological preserve privately owned and managed by the Tropical Science Centre (TSC), a Costa Rican no profit, scientific research and education association based in San Jose and established in 1962.

The Preserve counts on trails to receive up to 120 visitors at one time. These facilities comprise 7 trails that extend for 12.4 Kilometers. Visitors may also be attended by naturalist guides.

		The Monteverde Conservation League is a non-profit organization founded in 1986. It works in land acquisition, forest protection, habitat rehabilitation, research, and small-scale sustainable development projects, conservation of flora and fauna, and education. One of its projects is Bosque Eterno de los Niños, one international children's rainforest. Once upon a time, there was a teacher from the United States who came to Monteverde, Costa Rica, to do biological research. Her enthusiasm for the rainforest and her concern about its destruction found its way into a small primary school far away in rural primary school for away in rural Sweden. There, a class of 9 year-olds wondered if there were something they could do to save the trees, the waterfalls,

and the many animals that made their homes in the tropical forest. With their teacher, they decided there was. They wrote a play and presented it for their parents, they drew cards and sold them, they gave from their allowances. That money was sent to the Monteverde Conservation League, a group working hard to protect the threatened rainforest. It was enough to buy 15 acres.

The idea of a rainforest saved by children for children spread to schools in Sweden, to Maine where the biology teacher lived, to schools in England and Germany. Now, children in other European countries, in Japan, and in Africa _ more than 44 countries in all_ are lending a hand. These children ask for donations instead of birthday presents, they collect materials for recycling, and they sponsor "green days". The result is Bosque Eterno de los Niños (Children´s Eternal Forest), the first international children's rainforest.

Since it began in 1989, the children's rainforest has grown to cover thousands of acres of virgin forest. Living in this lush vegetation are quetzals, monkeys, bare-necked tapirs. Long vines trail to the forest floor.