January 10: Monte Verde and the Canopy Tour

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay








	Signs of things to come: a very narrow bridge. A short distance beyond, the pavement ends.


	Traffic jam

Above: this is the good section of the road.	Below: stream crossing the road.

	Only 21 more kilometers. Below: the higher the road got, the better (scarier) the views got.
















	Parts of Costa Rica are uncannily like the California Coast Ranges.

Santa Elena


	Above: Santa Elena caters to the tourists who come to visit the cloud forest. This area is so like northern California. Left: the church in Santa Elena was nondescript but had this neat creche decked out with tropical flowers and birds.
	The supermarket in Santa Elena
	Lunch.
	Pura vida!




	You'd think they were boarding Noah's Ark. Being prepared for wet here is one thing, but it never rained or even misted. From left: Sarah Glaeser, Kelly Hirsch, Jenny Rodewald, Jaime Kozloski, Bridget Engebose and Danielle Van Beckum.
	To get to the skywalk, logically enough, you have to climb into the sky.
	Our rain-ready students made a colorful sight going up the stairs.
	The end of the walk seen from the stairs.
	Tight turns.
















	The tree at center has a bend, but in general I was struck by the near total absence of bent trunks from soil creep.


	Left: looking up a landslide scar.









	Cecropia leaves.











	Slice through a palm trunk.










	Liverworts.












	This bamboo flowered and then died. That's the normal life cycle of bamboo.
















































	Top view of a tree fern.

	Left: no, that's not distortion from a wide-angle lens. That's warped wood. Below: the dorm at Monteverde.


Above: palatial digs compared to the Research Station.	Below: no happy campers here. Unless "ecstatic" means "happy." Bridget Engebose (below, left) seems mesmerized. Real beds!

	Left and below: views of the interior.

	Wow...a modern bathroom.
	Sunset at Monteverde.
	For the "I can't believe I'm dressed like this in the tropics" file.
	Dinner at a nearby restaurant.


	Above: tarantula by its burrow. Left and below: when the hummingbirds call it a day, the nectar bats come out. They flitted past me so close I could feel the breeze but avoided my range finder light, so I had to shoot blind.

	Left: a leaf katydid

Above: a walking stick.	Below: a tanager tucked in for the night.

Created 18 January 2008, Last Update 11 June 2020