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| Hotel Heliconia is a comfortable
retreat for visitors to the rainforest, and
is ideally situated between the Monteverde Cloud
Forest Preserve and the Santa Elena Rain Forest
Reserve. |
| Courtesy Hotel Heliconia |
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| The Monteverde rainforest
boasts one of the richest cloud forests in the
world. |
| Courtesy ICT |
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| Rope bridges allow Monteverde
visitors to traverse the rain forest in the
air. |
| Courtesy Costa Rica Treasures |
The story of Monteverde, an area in the northern part
of Costa Rica, is very unique. So-called Quakers,
a pacifist religious group from Alabama, were looking
for a quiet place to match their pacifist ideas back
in the 1950s. After a long search they decided upon
Costa Rica as opposed to Mexico, Canada or some other
Central American country. Their reasons were very
similar to those of any retiree or investor thinking
of moving to Costa Rica –peace, stability, no
army, and a land so rich that Columbus christened
it “the rich coast”.
Some of them arrived in Costa Rica by plane, but most
of them drove for three months from Alabama, to reach
Monteverde. They bought hundreds of acres of land,
and began producing a type of cheese that still makes
many mouths water.
During the last fifteen years tourism in Monteverde
has picked up to the point where Monteverde has become
one of the most popular tourist destinations in Costa
Rica. Not only has it one of the richest and most
attractive cloud forests in the world, but it is also
very unique by Costa Rican standards in that it’s
temperature is very pleasant – between 56-68
F, with an annual rainfall that can reach over 230
inches! The weather is so similar, all year around,
that the tourism industry experiences no off-season.
The owner of Hotel Heliconia, Roxana Badilla, welcomes
any Americans to visit the area. “In Monteverde,
not only tourists but also the locals feel the peace
and quiet. I really believe that this is one of the
last destinations left in the world where you can
walk anywhere, anytime, alone and be safe.”
These factors, among others, are the reasons why each
year more and more Americans visit her hotel, considered
one of the region’s best. Hotel Heliconia has
a very privileged location, situated between the Monteverde
Cloud Forest Preserve and the Santa Elena Rain Forest
Reserve.
Its rustic feeling offers homely services, combined
with a bit of luxury. One can view wildlife from the
jacuzzi, and later fall asleep on orthopedic mattresses.
Moreover, the hotel works together with certified
guides who can take you photographing of the famous
Resplendent Quetzal, which is found only in a very
few locations in Central America.
Other activities include hiking, horseback riding,
hanging bridges, canopy, and the hotel’s nature
centre, where one can learn about butterflies. For
a sample of the local culture, visit the cheese factory.
Support for the environment is strong in the area.
The Monteverde Conservation League was begun in
1986. Today, the organization works in land acquisition,
forest protection, habitat rehabilitation, research,
small-scale sustainable development projects, conservation
of flora and fauna, and education. However, one
of its most exciting projects is Bosque Eterno de
los Niños, the first international children’s
rainforest.
The story of the children’s rainforest is the
following: “Once upon a time, there was a teacher
from the United States who came to Monteverde to do
biological research. Her enthusiasm for the rainforest
and her concern about its destruction found its way
into a small primary school far away in rural Sweden.
There, a class of nine year-olds wondered if there
was something they could do to save the trees, the
waterfalls, and the many animals that made their homes
in the tropical forest.
They then wrote a play and presented it to their parents,
and also drew picture cards and sold them. That money
was sent to the Monteverde Conservation League, and
it was enough to buy 15 acres.”
The idea of a rainforest saved by children for children
spread to schools in Sweden, to Maine, where the biology
teacher lived, as well as to schools in Germany and
England. Now, children everywhere in the world, in
more than 44 countries, are participating in the project.
These children ask for donations instead of birthday
presents. They also collect materials for recycling,
and they sponsor “green days.”
The end result is the Bosque Eterno de los Niños
(Children´s Eternal Forest), which, since its
inception in 1989, has grown to cover thousands of
acres of virgin forest where there live quetzals,
monkeys, and bare-necked tapirs, among many other
animals. |
