True to its name, there were dense clouds hanging in the canopy and visibility was poor. But the lush forest was absolutely beautiful.
Having slightly less rainfall than the true rainforests on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, these forests still support and incredible diversity of wildlife.
We saw a large python millipede scurry through the lead litter on the forest floor.
The guide also pointed out another tarantula in her hole. Only the females live in the holes, so it’s easy to differentiate gender.
As we continued higher into the cloud forest, it became foggier as we were pretty much in the clouds.
We hiked as to the highpoint in the cloud forest, over 1500 m, which marked the continental divide for Costa Rica. There was a lookout tower here, so I climbed to the top. The ladder rungs and railings were wet from the clouds, so I went up very slowly. At the top of the top, I was actually above the clouds, but they were so dense, I couldn’t see much of anything.
The tour guide told us that on a clear day, you can see Lake Nicaragua to the north, but definitely not today. From here, we started making our way back to visitor center, with a few more stops to see the incredible plant life in the cloud forest.
Back at the visitor center, we purchased some locally-made gifts in the shop and had a snack to eat. Then we boarded the bus and made a short trip to 100% Adventura park for ziplining. Although we could have done ziplining in La Fortuna, Ro had recommended we wait and do it here, because this was the best one. After getting our equipment on and a brief training, we set out. There were a ton of people doing it, so there was a long wait for the first one, but after that, everyone was spread out enough that the waits were short. First, we did a couple real short ziplines to get used to it, followed by crossing a rather treacherous suspension bridge.
Then we did about four more medium length ziplines, followed by a short rappel. We were finally on the lines long enough to pick up some speed. After the rappel, was last regular zipline and it was longest.
This was also the last bailout spot and a couple from our group decided to bail. After coming out through the trees, we came out to a wide open area where we high above the valley below. Fortunately, they have a strong brake right at the end to slow down. From here, we had to hike up a rather steep old road to another platform where we did the first of two cable Superman ziplines. On these, we were strapped up by our backs so we could fly like Superman through the canopy and high above the valley.
The first cable Superman was the longest run, about 1.5 km. I ran my GPS while ziplining, and I got to more than 45 MPH on this run. Far below, I could see some ATVs offroading. The Superman was fun, but it put a lot of pressure on my ribs and kind of hurt. After the second one, I was glad to be done. But there was one last attraction before we finished – the Mega Tarzan swing. For this, I walked across a suspension bridge to grab the swing and go flying down. I jerked my neck a bit on this, but fortunately didn’t get whiplash.
Besides that, it was a lot of fun. When we finished, we headed back and returned the ziplining gear. We were coming back for the Hanging Bridges tour, but first we headed into town for lunch at Taco Taco. Sandy and I had fajitas, which were much different than what we’re used to. They were already pre-made and had a different flavor than what we get at home, but were still quite good. More like soft tacos. Then we caught a bus back to Adventura for the Hanging Bridges tour. Our guide took us on a nice hike through the forest and along the suspension bridges.
We were lower in elevation than in the cloud forest, so much better visibility and views of tropical plants and wildlife.
The guide pointed out wild coffee that was growing along the trail.
A little further, he showed us a spiraling flower that demonstrated a Fibonacci sequence.
Further down the trail, he pointed out a venomous side-striped palm viper resting on a branch. These snakes are highly poisonous, but fortunately, Costa Rica has antivenom for all the poisonous snakes in the country.
If you get pit, snap a picture of the snake so medics no what type of antivenom to use. The guide had been bitten and received the wrong antivenom and nearly died! Walking along one of the bridges, the guide pointed out an owl high up in the trees.
Further on, we saw another tarantula in her hole.
Towards the end of the tour, we came to a huge ficus tree that was hollow on the inside. They had placed some ropes in there and it was possible to climb up the inside of the tree up to the next bridge.
From here, we followed the trail back towards the visitor center. Right before finishing our hike, we came to a hummingbird garden where there were a number of feeders. We saw quite a few of the little birds zipping about and feeding.
I think they were white-necked jacobin hummingbirds. After a couple of pictures, we finished our hike back at the visitor center. The bus came to bring us back to the hotel. Once everyone returned to the hotel, we walked into Santa Elena for a Costa Rican dinner at Sabor Tico and then went back to the hotel for the evening.
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