Canopy walk view, with a splash of color

This is another view of the trees looking down from the canopy walk. Again, these may look like they are small plants, but these are the tops of tall trees.

The Monteverde canopy walk offers a superb opportunity to see the canopy of the cloud forest, but some people think that there is too much tourism in the area. In addition to the cloud forest reserve, there is a butterfly garden, a hummingbird center, a frog zoo, an orchid farm, a snake center, and other attractions for tourists.

The number of visitors who are allowed to hike on the main trail in the cloud forest preserve is limited each day. The number of tourists in the area is also limited by the challenge of driving in the area, as the roads are winding, mountain roads that are not in good condition. (Costa Rica has made great improvements to its roads in the last few years, as I will explain and show in some posts in the near future.)

The Monteverde cloud forest also contains the world's first zip line canopy tour, as Costa Rica pioneered the concept of eco-tourism. Today, there are zip line canopy tours in many places in Costa Rica, including some close to Tamarindo. I will show a photo from the zip lines this coming Monday.

I should note that today is a national holiday in Costa RIca -- Mother's Day. What about Father's Day, you might ask. That is held on a Sunday without granting a day off of work, but Mother's Day is always August 15 and is a holiday.