COSTA RICA III: Monteverde

After Arenal our next stop was the cloud forest in Santa Elena and Monteverde. We spent two full days hiking here. Incredible place but the conditions were challenging. We had a lot of wind and rain; especially wind. And it was by far the darkest, densest, wettest woods we've ever seenSeemed like there was at least as much stuff growing on the trees as there was growing on the groundHere's me with Arenal in the backgroundHere's Sarah rocking her brand new, way cool Costa Rica hat

So seeing stuff was challenging. But we still found some cool birds. One of the more common and conspicuous species at this elevation is the COLLARED REDSTARTAmigo de hombreLess common and WAY less conspicuous (but still one of my favorites): SPOTTED BARBTAILOur 200th species of the trip: BARRED BECARDBLACK GUANORANGE-BELLIED TROGONAnd a definite highlight for us was this female RESPLENDENT QUETZAL