Costa Rica’s high altitude climate is actually home to oak-dominated forest. This particular site was a private research station on the pacific slope operated by hunter and logger turned mountaineer and naturalist Don Carlos. It was incredible to see this after coming from La Cruces, a lower elevation wetter forest. We lived in the clouds, literally!

This site is subject to the same dangers as any tropical forest, where selective logging and apathy for a less iconic forest has made it a difficult ecosystem to inspire conservation practices in. The area is home to high altitude bamboo, which blooms on a 15 year cycle. Migratory birds attract bird enthusiasts(birders) and the bamboo then dies and restarts its cycle.

Higher up than the oak forest is the Paramo(Approx. 2800-3000meters), which I can best describe as sub alpine. Plants here are shrubs and stay low to the ground to encourage a wind boundary and also adapt to intense sunlight. However, our nature walk on the paramo was in fact during a wet storm system and we could only image walking over the continental divide and seeing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from one standing position. Our second day was much brighter and we traveled to a different location, spending time viewing the pacific.

We were unable to stay too long however, and before we could settle in we arrived in Guanacaste province.