PajMon Information Blog

It’s early Saturday morning in Santa Elena. The local farmers market is in full force. I’d normally be there early in order to get first pick of the organic veggies. The local kids race about all through the marketplace. This morning I’m just kicking back at the house drinking coffee and making this journal entry. A bit later I’m planning on taking a yoga class and then probably going to play Ultimate Frisbee down at the school.

If your are ever in Monteverde on a Saturday morning, you should stop by the Friends School to play with us. If its raining, though, youre out of luck. Its a great way to meet the community here. Kids and adults from all over the mountain come together and get to run around and play. Its the only real exercise I get all week. Yoga doesnt really count.

Some buddies are coming in today from Sacramento. They’re supposed to get in on the afternoon bus, so it looks like they won’t make it to the game, but I have something pretty special in store for them. After leaving their luggage at my place, I’m going to take them into the forest on some great hikes that only the locals know about.

I’ll then take my friends on a canopy tour. When I arrived here years ago I did some freelance guiding for a few of the tour operations here. I can’t think of a more exciting way to introduce my friends to the cloud forest ecosystem. From a birds eye perspective in the dense canopy is an experience that will spark their curiosity and inspire awe…

For me there is something so primitive in being so high up in a tree. There is always a bit of fear there. To be at the top of one of these ancient, high altitude trees, is absolutely fascinating. When clouds wisp by and the views open up to the lowlands and the Pacific Ocean.

You connect to cables from a pulley and harness, and swoop across from tree platform to tree platform, and you’re standing in a tropical setting, jungle moss curtains all around, small creeks running below, and tropical birds zipping in and out of view. From miles away you can hear the daunting calls of Congo monkeys.

At another platform you can see that each branch up here has a plethora of life surging on its surface. Small orchids, practically microscopic, cover large swaths of branches, and hanging moss provide a moist substrate for an array of multicolored bromeliads, each one a natural pitcher to capture the moisture in the air. Some of these provide shelter and protection for growing tadpoles.

The forest here is magic. Dark and light, merge into an atmosphere similar to an underwater reefscape. Ziplining across is not unlike scubadiving in that sense, only much faster. At each point along the canopy tour there is something to be explored, overturned, photographed. Army ants marching past the hive of stingless wasps, a toucan raiding the nest of a blue warbler.. Hercules beetles, walking sticks, cyanide caterpillars. Here in the canopy there are worlds to be discovered.

Comments are closed.