Monteverde Cloud Forest

One of the highlights of our stay in Monteverde was our visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve. We went on a very nice hike and learned about the flora and fauna in Monteverde. On our walk we saw a Quetzel, the national bird of Guatemala which is also a threatened species so it was a rare to treat to catch a glimpse of the splendid bird. We also saw lots of different types of trees, such as the strangler fig which grows around a separate tree, or a "host" and strangles it, and lots of flowers, including many varieties of orchids. We did not see much wildlife on this trip but we did see something I will never forget. As we reached the top of the fairly small mountain (only 5,000 feet above sea level) and stood on the continental divide, we could see both the Caribbean and Pacific sides of Costa Rica. It was an amazing sight and luckily the skies were very clear so we could see everything from the other mountains all the way out to the two seas. An interesting thing about Monteverde is the micro-climate which is an area with a completely different climate then one close by. For instance, in Monteverde it is about twenty degrees cooler than half an hour down the road and also, you will feel the occasional mist while the clouds zoom by at close to 60 mph. Que guay!

El dia pasado mi madre y yo viitamos la Selva de Nublados de Monteverde reserva. Fuimos en una caminata muy buena y apredemos de la fauna en Monteverde. En nuestra excurcion, vimos un Quetzal, el pajaro nacional de Guatemala, y muchos tipos diferentes de arboles y floras. No vimos mucha fauna en esta caminata pero vimos una vista que yo nunca voy a olvidar. Cuando llegaron al parte superior de la montana pequena (solamente 5,000 pies) en frente del Contental Divide, pudimos ver los lados del Caribbean y Pacifico de Costa Rica. Fue una vista increible y con buena suerte, no hubo muchos nublados y por eso pudimos ver todo de las montanas a las dos mares. Una cosa interesante de Monteverde es el microclimate. Un microclimate es un area con una climata completamente differente de una que esta cerca. Por ejemplo, en Monteverde, la temperatura es cerca de veinte grados mas frio que treinat minutos por la calle y eso es muy interesante. Tuvimos un tiempo muy bueno y fue muy divertido.