Travels in Central America, Part 8
The grumbling summit of Vulcan Arenal was covered with cloud when we left La Fortuna and drove around the base of the volcano to the north side of Arenal Lake. After a short boat ride to the other side the 12 of us piled ashore into a small clearing where Marvin and Domingo were waiting with the horses. It was a familiar scene from my past – a couple of horsemen in chaps and big hats, a dozen gentle horses, saddled and waiting for the dudes. In years past I would have been one of the horsemen, quietly sizing up which of the arriving dudes I would have to boost aboard.
But on this trip I was one of the dudes. And it wasn't until I put my foot in the stirrup and prepared to spring into the saddle that I faced reality – it had been decades, not years, since I worked as a horse wrangler and guide in the Rockies. But once in the saddle the old instincts returned and Skippy accepted me as an ex-cowpoke.
Skippy, a lively but well mannered bay gelding, was obviously anxious to get home. In a sense all of us were heading home at this point. The horseback ride along the south shore of Arenal Lake was the first leg in our trip to Monteverde – last stop before San Jose and the end of our Central American tour with GAP.
My mount was determined to be in the lead with Domingo and, ears pointed straight ahead, he took every excuse to break into a faster gait. The lake-side trail skirts the pastures of small farms where groups of brahman cattle rest in the shade of broad-crowned oak and beech trees. Occasionally our route wound through ravines choked with giant ferns and trees thick with vines, orchids, and epiphytes – remnants of the original jungle as it was before the land was cleared for pasture.
Half way through the ride Domingo left the main trail and ducked into a shady clearing where we dismounted for a lunch of fresh fruit, tortillas and cheese. I took advantage of the stop to have a close look at the horses. Unlike the tired, chaffed, and underfed animals so often used by outfitters, Domingo's horses were well groomed, in prime condition, and fitted with good tack. Surprisingly there were no flies and the horses rested quietly while we ate our lunch.
When we reached the home ranch Skippy relaxed and we waited patiently while a couple of gauchos and their dog forced a herd of reluctant brahmans out of the gate and across a fast-flowing river. Then, as we said goodbye to our mounts and thanked Domingo for a great ride, our van pulled up at the west end of the lake, ready for the next leg of the day's journey.
The narrow dirt road from Arenal Lake to Monteverde passes through the rolling mountains of the Cordillera de Tilaran. Most of the tropical forest that once covered these steep slopes has been cleared; the great hardwood trees removed to make room for cattle pasture and coffee plantations. But fortunately large tracts of the original cloud forest are now protected in national parks and private reserves, such as Monteverde.
The community of Monteverde was established in 1951 when four Quakers from Alabama, having served their time for refusing the Korean War draft, were released from jail and set out to find a country that would respect their pacifist lifestyle. Together with 44 friends from 11 Quaker families they settled on Costa Rica, bought 1,500 hectares of land in the fertile Tilarin Mountains, and began a highly successful dairy business. They named their new community Monteverde (Green Mountain) and, in order to protect the watershed, they set aside one-third of their land as primary forest. Two thousand more hectares were added in 1972 and the area became the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. After 30 years it is still an inspirational model of conservation and a centre of tropical forest research.
Today the village of Monteverde is scattered along several kilometres of narrow, winding roads near the north-west side of the reserve. A mix of rural houses, public buildings, soccer fields, hotels, cottage industry, hostels, gardens, and restaurants, the spread out community blends seamlessly into its cloud forest environment. The Quaker community has prospered and their philosophy of non-violence, justice, and deep ecological concerns has found acceptance in Costa Rican society. But dairy farming and coffee growing have been eclipsed by the burgeoning tourist industry.
"Greater Monteverde," which includes the Cloud Forest Reserve and nearby villages of Monteverde, Cerro Plano, Santa Elana, and San Luis, has become Costa Rica’s number-one tourist attraction and many local residents fear that the fragile environment could become the victim of its own success. Moves to pave or improve the present dirt road have been resisted by residents who believe it helps limit visitors to a manageable number.
Unlike our local rainforest, much of the moisture in tropical cloud forests comes not from falling rain, but from condensation of the nearly constant cloud cover that blankets the tops of the mountains. Warm north-easterly trade winds, laden with moisture from the Atlantic, sweep up to the Continental divide where they cool and condense into clouds, bathing the forest in a perpetual soft mist. At an elevation of about 1,500 metres above sea level, temperatures in the Monteverde area are pleasantly cool.
The constant supply of moisture promotes a luxuriant growth of vegetation. More than 2,000 species of plants have been identified within the reserve and the lush forest canopy is home to at least 300 species of resident birds, 100 species of mammals, and a bewildering array of reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Competition for growing space is so intense that every limb and branch is covered by other plants seeking a place in the sun. Epiphytes, lichens, liverworts, and mosses blanket the larger trees in a mat of vegetation that stores moisture during the brief dry season.
The reserve has numerous hiking trails but one of the best ways to get up among the tree tops is the Sky Walk, which combines a 3.5 km trail with seven narrow suspension bridges slung through and above the forest canopy. On a previous visit we hooted back at stern-faced howler monkeys and watched spider monkeys feeding in the trees below us. This time it rained and the wildlife stayed out of sight. But the Sky Walk office provided ponchos and the walk was well worth a return trip.
For a faster tour of the forest canopy there are zip lines galore in the Monteverde area. On our first visit we did the Original Canopy Tour and this time we did Sky Trek. Both are adrenaline boosting fun but they are as different as T-bars and detachable quads.
The Canopy Tour, on the grounds of the Cloud Forest Lodge, begins with a rope ladder through the inside of a hollow fig tree. The zip lines run between three small wooden platforms built into the branches of huge trees. And although the runs are relatively short the tiny platforms, 30 metres above the ground, have a definite Tarzan-like feel. Also you control your own landing speed with a thick leather glove around the cable and the tour ends with an 80 foot free rappel down to earth.
Sky Trek, near the entrance to the reserve, combines its zip lines with a system of trails, suspension bridges and steel observation towers. The circuit takes about three hours and includes 11 lines with a combined length of 2 km. No Fig Tree here! The first cable is reached by a circular stairway up a steel tower, and a catcher with a rope slung over the cable is waiting to slow you down over the steel-mesh landing platform. The zips are longer and faster but more like a midway ride than a jungle experience. The Tarzan feel is definitely missing.
After two days of playing in the Cloud Forest we caught the local bus to San Jose and prepared for the reality of heading home – a group photo, an exchange of addresses and promises to keep in touch.
Some of our travelling companions were headed back to Europe, others to Australia, South Africa, the U.S., Ontario, Whistler. Each of us was bringing back memories and a host of mental images – green mountains, jungle villages, coral reefs, and volcanoes, crowded markets and the people whose lives we glimpsed in that often forgotten land between North and South America.
