This photo was taken on the last day of our vacation. Our vacation was cut short because later that evening/morning, Judy was transported by ambulance to the CIMA Hospital in San Jose. The hospital is about 4 hours from Monteverde. She is fine now.
Monteverde means "green mountain." It was founded by Quakers from the United States (early 1950's) primarily because Costa Rica had no standing army. The Quakers established the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. Tourists and scientists have come to this Reserve from all over the world because of its 2,500 species of plants, including 400 types of orchids, 400 species of birds and 100 species of mammals.
Surprisingly, the main access road up the mountain to Monteverde is unpaved (it's dirt) for the last 15-20 miles. We heard several explanations about why the Quakers have kept that main access road to Monteverde unpaved in spite of Monteverde being a "magnet" for tourists and scientists because of such attractions as the Biological Reserve (cloud forest), bridges over the forest canopy, hiking and horseback riding. Two of the explanations: 1) To keep unwanted people out of Monteverde. 2) To increase the likelihood that people will stay overnight in one of the hotels in Monterverde once they arrive.