Santa Elena/Monteverde, Costa Rica

[zerokarma]

This past December I was in Costa Rica for a week, while there I took a trip to the town of Santa Elena/Monteverde where the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was located. Getting to this location is extremely difficult, there is no paved roads there, all rough dirt roads in poor condition the entire way there. It takes about 2-3 hours of driving slowly up these poor roads just to get there. The town is located at about cloud level, 1440 meters or 4662 ft.

The area was founded by Quakers from the USA who evaded the draft for the Korean War in 1949-50, and who found a safe haven in this country without an army, it still retains a North American feel yet is less of a town than a spread of dwellings couched off the main through-road. It was chosen by its founding fathers for its cool climate in aid of dairy farming. The town is now moving towards eco-tourism as a more sustainable income source. Quakers still form a considerable population alongside the native 'Ticos' - in fact, they run a medium-sized bilingual school. There are currently two main Quaker families - the Guindons and the Rockwells.

Below is just a sample of the almost 1,000 pictures I took while down in Costa Rica, the rest of the pictures are at http://www.zerokarma.com/photoalbum/thumbnails-16.html and http://www.zerokarma.com/photoalbum/thumbnails-17.html if anyone is interested

The area of Santa Elena/Monteverde is so high up that you are at Cloud Level:











Enterance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve


A few shots from within the Cloud Forest Reserve:






For more pictures that are also higher resolution check out my Costa Rica photo album:

Album #1: http://www.zerokarma.com/photoalbum/thumbnails-16.html
Album #2: http://www.zerokarma.com/photoalbum/thumbnails-17.html

There is almost 1,000 pictures in there between the two albums

[mSeattle]

Interesting teeny tiny town. No, seriously.
The first picture reminds me of one I saw of the Napa Valley/Angwin area of Northern California.
What's that thing in the last picture?
Edit: Oh, it's a Coati (raccoon family).

[flar]

Interesting little town and story

[zerokarma]

Originally Posted by mSeattle

Edit: Oh, it's a Coati (raccoon family).

Yea its like a tropical raccoon, they crave attention.

[Jularc]

Never heard of this place. Thanks!

[zerokarma]

Here is more info on the place if anyone is interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monteverde