Local Monteverde Reserves

Tags: Catarata Los Murciélagos, Cerro Amigos, Costa Rica, Curi Cancha, Monteverde, Monteverde Ecological Sanctuary

Date: April 14, 2023

We visited a number of different sites. Most of them were nature reserves, meaning that there was an entrance fee and usually very well tended trails.

In the Monteverde Ecological Sanctuary we walked around a large canyon with some spectacular views towards Santa Elena:

In the next couple of pictures, the Puntarenas bay area is visible in the background:

One of the few hikes we went on that wasn't in a nature reserve was to Cerro Amigos. It is a hill a little outside Santa Elena with a dirt road up to the top where the phone masts of the area are placed. It was a hot and steep hike to the top:

View of the phone masts at the top:

Felicie looking for birds in the trees:

At the top we were not the only ones enjoying the view:

Between a few of the smaller nature reserves and Santa Elena there was a shortcut on a trail crossing a small river valley. At some point in the past, one of the large trees along the river had fallen over and new roots had grown into the river from the now horizontal trunk of the tree:

One of the larger nature reserves we visited was Curi Cancha. Here we saw a number of different birds, capuchin monkeys and some tapirs. Unfortunately we didn't get any good photos of any of them. Here is Felicie watching monkeys high up in a tree:

We did get a picture of a lizard, though:

Felicie next to a large agave:

And in front of a large tree:

One of the last places we visited was Catarata Los Murciélagos (The bat waterfall):

A tree reaching for the water with its long roots:

Quite a few people were at the waterfall:

On the way out we passed a banana tree: