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Alas, the time has finally come for a blog post regarding one of Costa Rica’s most coveted ecologically preserved gems: The Monteverde Cloud Forest. The magnificent beauty of this place never ceases to stop, and there was certainly no exception to this sensation during our three day trip to this pristine region. Our first day was spent hiking through the 55,000ha Bosque Eternal de los Niños (Childern’s Eternal Rainforest) where bird species like the Three-Wattled Bellbird and the Emerald Toucanet were just two among the plethora of species seen throughout the trip. After receiving some fantastic hospitality and much needed hot showers at the lodge where we were staying, it was off to work at Life Monteverde; an organic and sustainable coffee farm. It was here where we were able to observe yet another ingenious self-sustaining system; however, we were also able to gain a local insight on tourism and its expansive effects on Costa Rican communities. In order to provoke a stable long term society and economy in Costa Rica we must do our part to encourage sustainable tourism. Through the implementation of methods that involve tourism that stimulates greater community integration, there can become a satisfying tradeoff between Ticos and tourists. To cap off what had turned out to be quite the mentally intriguing trip, we finally made our way to the cloud forest reserve on our last day. As we hiked through the dense forest, over the continental divide, and across a hanging bridge, one thing was conclusive: the preservation and mitigation of this country is without a doubt worth the effort.

Follow the URL link to see a short video segment that I created to summarize our class trip to Monteverde. Pura Vida! https://youtu.be/z8eRokRUqSo

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