28 March 2010 * Monteverde Cloud Forest
Today, Tara and I went for a walk in an amazing place, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. The forest is densely vibrant. Everywhere, life climbs life. Vines snake upward around towering trees, dropping long roots through the air, reaching to touch the earth. Then growing thick, they strengthen into ponderous legs propping up the canopy. The large trees support a multitude of epiphytes, plants that live upon the trunks and branches of rooted trees. They grow so densely, its as if the earth has climbed up into the treetops.
Echoing throughout the forest were haunting clear songs of hidden birds, like water bells or glass whistles. Their penetrating calls seemed to come from no direction. We scanned the canopy, but could never spot the birds. But, we did chance upon a pair of quetzals, bright red, truquoise and green, moving from branch to leaftop high above us. We watched them for a brief while, then they disappeared.
Hiking through a myriad of trees, leaves, shadows, and songs, Tara and I soon fell silent. Our senses came alive watching, listening, breathing the full rich air. I felt my mind unclasp. My thoughts evaporated. I entered a realm of primal experience. It was as if human history never happened and my life story was an unremembered dream. Only the living forest remained in a timeless constant dance of life transforming into life.
The cloud forest we explored today was different from the rain forest we visited at Arenal's hanging bridges. There was more space and light. The air moved more freely through the trees, especially on the wind-swept ridge tops.
Our trail traced a portion of the spine of the Americas, the continental divide from which waters flow eastward to the Caribbean or westward to the Gulf of Nicoya and the Pacific. From this spectacular vantage point we could nearly retrace our entire Costa Rican journey: the central valley in the distant east, cloud-covered Arenal to the north, the arid lowlands and coastal mountains of Nicoya to the west.
This lovely morning voyage through a primeval forest was the highlight of the trip for me.
Echoing throughout the forest were haunting clear songs of hidden birds, like water bells or glass whistles. Their penetrating calls seemed to come from no direction. We scanned the canopy, but could never spot the birds. But, we did chance upon a pair of quetzals, bright red, truquoise and green, moving from branch to leaftop high above us. We watched them for a brief while, then they disappeared.
Hiking through a myriad of trees, leaves, shadows, and songs, Tara and I soon fell silent. Our senses came alive watching, listening, breathing the full rich air. I felt my mind unclasp. My thoughts evaporated. I entered a realm of primal experience. It was as if human history never happened and my life story was an unremembered dream. Only the living forest remained in a timeless constant dance of life transforming into life.
The cloud forest we explored today was different from the rain forest we visited at Arenal's hanging bridges. There was more space and light. The air moved more freely through the trees, especially on the wind-swept ridge tops.
Our trail traced a portion of the spine of the Americas, the continental divide from which waters flow eastward to the Caribbean or westward to the Gulf of Nicoya and the Pacific. From this spectacular vantage point we could nearly retrace our entire Costa Rican journey: the central valley in the distant east, cloud-covered Arenal to the north, the arid lowlands and coastal mountains of Nicoya to the west.
This lovely morning voyage through a primeval forest was the highlight of the trip for me.
posted by nerdondo at 7:52 PM
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