The Cloud Forest: Our new home

After spending 2 weeks exploring most of the lowland habitat in the Pacific slope it was time to make it to what will be our home for the next month and a half, Monteverde.  Monteverde is a Cloud Forest located between 1500 and 1800 meters of elevation, the environmental conditions of temperature and constant mist found here make this place a great habitat for many epiphytic species like bromeliads and orchids.

Just getting to the Monteverde Biological Station, the place where we will be spending most of our time here, we realized our stay in this wonderful place was gonna be amazing. The morning after we arrived to Monteverde we did our first hike through this magical forest; we hiked from the Station at 1535 meters in elevation to the top of the mountain at 1830 meters, here we got to explore this new habitat and we finally made it to our first Rain Forest also known in this area as the elfin forest, this forest is located at the Continental Divide and the name its given due the fact the canopy is shorter because the big influence of rain and wind found in this area.

Although it was not a long hike we took the entire morning to explore and get immerse in this enchanted forest, every other step we discover a new species of animal or plant that made us fall in love with this place, after this hike we knew the time here its gonna be wonderful.

Monteverde Biological Station.  

Christine Bradley (California Polytechnic State University), Vikram Norton (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Sarah Aitken (University of Pennsylvania), Drew Rosso (University of Notre Dame), and Jimmy Webb (University of Arkansas) admiring the chrysalis  of a Hawk (Family Sphingidae) moth.

Close up of the Sphingid moth chrysalis.

Christine Bradley (California Polytechnic State University), Jimmy Webb (University of Arkansas), Drew Rosso (University of Notre Dame), and Vikram Norton (University of Massachusetts-Amherst) hiking through the elfin forest of Monteverde.

The Elfin forest.

Derek Frank (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities), Sarah Aitken (University of Pennsylvania), and our professor Erick McAdam enjoying their time at the elfin forest.

Amanda Ogden (Utah State University) and Sarah Aitken (University of Pennsylvania) at the summit of Cerro Amigos (1830 meters in elevation), they understood why it is called a Cloud Forest.

After the hike we returned to the Biological Station and found this lovely visitor, a White-faced Capuchin Monkey (Cebus imitator), he was most interested in looking for some food than in our presence there.