Because of its high altitude at 1440 m above sea level – Monteverde has a constant supply of clouds. The moisture, attaches on the branches of the tallest trees and drips down to the other vegetation below. This helps to support a complex cloud forest ecosystem that provides a home for numerous birds, animals, insects and plants. Thedown side for us is, that as well as clouds, there is also a very high annual rainfall and unfortunately we have heavy rain...

We have a 5 night booking at the Pension Santa Elena. This is very friendly place which has doubled the number of rooms since we last stayed here 7 years ago and we have one of the new garden rooms. Very small but comfortable. Breakfast which is included in the price, is by way of a token taken to the little taco stall out on the street. The owners have "adopted" several stray dogs including Lechuga, (translates to "Lettuce" in English) so for dog lovers like...