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| Home > Cloud Forest Activities |
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| Cloud Forest Activities |
Costa Rica Cloud Forests ActivitiesTHE CLOUD FORESTS OF COSTA RICA AND REGION ACTIVITIES
The cloud forests of Costa Rica are one of the most unique environments in the world, formed by a combination of wind and unusual geography. Tradewinds flowing from the Caribbean Sea are push moist air into the Cordillera Tillaran, where the angle of the mountains pushes it further upwards to cooler heights. The resultant excessive humidity creates clouds and mist. Examples of Costa Rica’s cloud forests include the Brauillo Carrillo National Park, Monteverde, Irazu Volcano National Park, the Juan Castro Blanco National Park, and Poas Volcano National Park.
Located twenty kilometres northeast of San Jose, Braullio Carrillo National Park is a fauna and flora sanctuary filled with trees, tropical plants, waterfalls and wildlife. Animal life in the park is represented by such species as the bushmaster snake, the fer-de-lance snake, the jaguar and the ocelot. Bird life includes eagles, toucans, trogons, and quetzals. For those particularly interested in the birds of Braullio Carrillo, special birdwatching tours are available from a reputable agency.
Last but not least, the Aerial Tram offers visitors to the park the opportunity to travel in cable cars across the park to spot fauna and flora that would be impossible to see from ground level, and also includes a restaurant and visitor’s centre.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve consists of over ten thousand hectares of rainforest, and features over two thousand species of plant life, one hundred species of mammals, four hundred bird species, over a hundred amphibian and reptile species and thousands of insects.
The plant life includes four hundred and twenty different types of orchids, the mammal life contains five separate species of cats, over five thousand kinds of moths in the insect life, and thirty kinds of hummingbirds number among the bird species (including the Resplendent Quetzal, which can usually be spotted in the March-April nesting season).
More than seventy thousand people visit the Reserve every year, and guided tours are available.
The most visited national park in Costa Rica, Irazu Volcano National Park, as the name suggests, is devoted to the Volcano Irazu, which last awoke in the 1960s, showering San Jose (which is fifteen miles away!) and Cartego with smoke and ash, and sending smoking boulders tumbling down it’s sides. Currently the only volcanic activity comes from toxic steam being released fumaroles in the crater. A leisurely day trip from most nearby locations (including San Jose), attractions include the summit of the volcano, where the volcanic activity has conspired with the wind to give an effect similar to that of the lunar surface. There are craters featuring scorched trees, and brightly coloured mineral pools. While fauna is understandably sparse, there are still the Volcano Hummingbird and Junco to look out for on the half a mile hiking trail. A small visitor’s centre is also on the site.
The Volcano Poas National Park is situated on the slopes of no less than three extinct volcano peaks, surrounded by dense tropical forest. The park measures over five thousand hectares, with the volcano standing over eight thousand feet above sea level. The volcano has been erupting sporadically for around eleven million years, last spewing out ash and rock in the early 1950s. One of the craters measures one and a half kilometers in diameter and is three hundred metres deep, with a lagoon that spews boiling sulphurous gases at it’s bottom.
Other attractions include the four different habitats, showcasing Costa Rica’s amazing biodiversity – the arrayan area, a cloud forest, a stunted forest and an area with scarce vegetation. There are also numerous examples of wildlife, from the seventy nine species of bird (including the hummingbird, the quetzal and the robin) to mammals such as coyotes, skunks, the long-tailed weasel, and some small cats. One such specimen of wildlife that is literally unique to the Volcano Poas National Park is the aptly named Poas Green-Yellow Squirrel, found nowhere else in the world.
For hikers, there are several trails around the craters and into the forest, including the Crater Overlook Trail (seven hundred and fifty metres long), and the Escolania Trail (roundabout a thirty minute walk).
The Juan Castro Blanco National Park, located in the Northern Lowlands region of Costa Rica, is one of the youngest national parks in Costa Rica, opened as recently as 1995, largely to protect the watershed on the slopes of the Platona Volcano. Nonetheless, the park includes many other attractions for visitors to the region, including several endangered species such as the black guan, the curassow, and the red brocket deer, and is also a haven for birdwatchers with species such as the quetzal, the falcon, the peacock and the black turkey to be found within the sanctuary.
Other species to be found within the park include armadillos, coyotes, goats, racoons and monkeys. There are forests filled with cedar, cypress, oak and quizzara and orchids are also found throughout the park. As well as the Platona Volcano, two other volcanoes dwell within the park, the Porvenir Volcano, and the inactive El Viejo Volcano, all of which provide an incredible skyline for visitors to admire. Thermal hot springs also run throughout the park.
All in all, the cloud forests of Costa Rica are a UNIQUE essential travel experience for any tourists to the region and Costa Rica. |
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North PacificBejuco, Cabo Blanco , Carrillo, Coyote, La Cruz, Liberia, Mal Pais, Montezuma, Nicoya, Nosara, Ostional, Playa Avellanas, Playa Azul, Playa Brasilito, Playa Conchal, Playa del Coco, Playa Flamingo, Playa Grande, Playa Hermosa, Playa Islita, Playa Junquillal, Playa Langosta, Playa Manzanillo , Playa Negra, Playa Ocotal, Playa Panama, Playa Potrero, Playa Prieta, Playa San Miguel, Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Tamarindo, Samara, TamborCloud ForestGrecia, Irazu, Monteverde, Rosario de Naranjo, San Ramon, Tilaran, TurrialbaCaribbean Puerto Viejo, Barra del Colorado, Cahuita, Hone Creek, Limon, Manzanillo, Playa Negra, Carib, Punta Uva, TortugueroCentral ValleyAlajuela, Atenas, Cartago, Escazu, Heredia, La Uruca, Moravia, Orosi, Paraiso, San Jose, Santa AnaCentral PacificEsparza, Esterillos, Esterillos Oeste, Hermosa, Jaco, La Isla Palo Seco, Manuel Antonio, Parrita, Playa Bandera, Playa Bejuco, Playa Herradura, Playa Matapalo, Puntarenas, QueposSouth PacificDominical, Drake, Escaleras, Golfito, Ojochal, Pavones, Playa Ballena, Playa Carate, Playa Tortuga, Puerto Jimenez, San Isidro del General, Tres Rios de Coronado, Uvita, ZancudoNorthern LowlandsArenal, Ciudad Quesada, La Fortuna, Nuevo Arenal, Puerto Vieja de Sarapiqui |
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