The very popular area of Monteverde was our second destination of the trip. (If you missed it, the first stop was the much less visited Rincon de la Vieja National Park.) It’s a tiny town, very near to another slightly larger town, Santa Elena, known for its cloud forest ecosystem, cool climate and diverse wildlife. For Dean and I, it was the only place on the trip that wasn’t new for us, having visited back in 2014 during our round-the-world honeymoon year. There’s a lot going for the area in terms of nature and this is matched by the tourism infrastructure – Restaurants, cafes and tour companies line the streets and there’s a really high density of galleries and beautiful shops full of locally-made products. 

Having visited before, we knew it was worth joining the masses but this time we did it slightly differently and found an amazing Airbnb away from town which was very almost perfect in every way (more on that story at the end!).

We stayed for four nights – the longest stop of our trip – so we were able to properly relax and enjoy our surroundings which were incredible. From the decking outside the house, we sat, watched and listened for hours to the forest, soaking up that very special feeling of living in the jungle but with all the comforts of a home! There were trees all the way into the distance where toucans perched, squawking to each other over the canopy, but all sorts of birds also landed in the trees right next to the house.

Gartered trogons, wrens, masked tityras, crested guans, dusky capped fly catchers, white-fronted Amazons, squirrel cuckoos, chachalacas to name but a few.

Spiny lizards and a variety of butterflies explored the garden alongside an astonishing selection of mammals: deer, coatis, agoutis, squirrels and even an armadillo! As you can probably imagine, it was hard to tear yourself away for fear of missing the next visitor!

But tear ourselves away we did. The activities available in the area are endless: hanging bridges, zipline canopy tours (we did this last time and highly recommend!), wildlife sanctuaries, coffee and chocolate tours… but of course our choices needed to be suitable for a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, and we were trying to keep a lid on our budget, so here are seven things we did:

1. Ranario Monteverde Frog Pond

I’m fairly sure that, apart from a new paint job on the front, this place is exactly as it was 11 years ago! Your ticket gets you two visits on the same day – so you can see it in the light and at night – and there are various guided tours which are included in the price. Our daytime visit was good although there were quite a lot of frogs we couldn’t spot, sometimes because they’re nocturnal, sometimes because we’re no experts!

We joined an evening tour which meant it was a little more crowded but, of course, we saw more and the frogs were generally more active too. Everyone’s given a torch which adds an extra level of fun for the kids too. We also saw glow-in-the-dark scorpions under the guide’s UV torch! There’s also a natural history room full of insect and other specimens you can spend a bit of time in.

Key information: tickets cost $20 for adults but the children were free; open 9am to 8pm; best to book onto the tours; there’s a café next door called the Golden Toad which I think is linked to the Ranario.

2. Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve

Many people opt to hike the various reserves day after day but we decided just to pick one and splurge on a guide to help us make the most of the experience. Last time we visited, we chose the Monteverde Cloud Forest so we opted for the Santa Elena equivalent this time around.

Our guide, Lucia, was knowledgeable and really engaging for Small who quickly became her shadow, asking lots of questions! As it was a group tour, Dean and I couldn’t hear much of what was going on and spent quite a lot of time at the back, coaxing Tiny along with a range of snacks so that she could manage it under her own steam. 

It’s important to note that this is actually not what a cloud forest should look like. You’ll see some distant cloud from a very high viewing platform in some of the photos but the weather on the day, and global warming generally, has meant the cloud forest climate is changing for the worse. Back in 2014, we remember it being uniquely misty in the forest: literally like being in a cloud.

Although apparently home to sloths, jaguars, pumas, spiders, monkeys and hundreds of species of birds, we didn’t see anything big or any snakes or frogs, but it was strong on minibeasts. Our two most memorable experiences were with arachnids: a cool little spider that catapults itself in response to noises (vibrations, I guess); and a female orange-kneed tarantula which our terrified guide tricked out of her hole with a stick! We also saw lots of millipedes, a caterpillar, a stick insect, a collard redstart and black vultures. Regardless of the low sightings, it was just a pleasure to walk the forest and listen to the birds – we even heard – but didn’t see – the elusive resplendent quetzal!

Key information: tickets are $18 for adults or $35 for a guided tour but the children were free; there’s a café and toilets on site plus a small gift shop. For an alternative, peaceful, bird-filled hike on quiet trails, we can also recommend Curi Cancha reserve which Dean visited alone for an early morning walk.

3. Night Hike, Monteverde

Being out in the dark, past your bedtime, is always exciting if you’re a kid. But all the more so when you’re out with a torch in a cloud forest in Costa Rica! The air is filled with the promise of critters: frogs croaking, grasshoppers chirping and the sounds of nocturnal birds high in the trees. Anticipation levels are high with the promise of wildlife sightings and even the kids sense the need to walk quietly and carefully, listening and scouring the trees high and low.

So many places offer night hikes that choosing between them feels arbitrary since you could see all the mammals one night (sloths, kinkajous, armadillos, etc.) and not another. We went with Refugio Monteverde and we weren’t too lucky on that front but it was an adventure nevertheless. Having a guide was beneficial as they’ll always spot way more than you would alone and their telescopes obviously give you a much clearer view (which you can also take photos through). We saw the highly venomous green pit viper, a sleeping violet sabrewing hummingbird, frogs, a tiger spider, a caterpillar about to turn into a chrysalis (you can tell because of the spike apparently), a daddy longlegs eating a moth (apparently a rare sight!) and, a favourite of the kids, a headlight beetle aka lightning bug.

Key information: tickets were $45 for adults and children (5-12) were $38 on the group tour; private tours are pricier but they try to give you a private tour or put you with other families when there are children in the group; hikes are at 6pm and 8pm; torches are provided; a tip for taking photos on your phone on night hikes is to take a photo whilst you’re recording a video.

4. Hummingbird Café – Café Colibri, Monteverde

At the edge of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, you’ll find this very ordinary café with a lot of very extraordinary visitors. It’s the only other place we were certain we wanted to return to on this trip. It’s a pretty magical spot: the hummingbirds were mesmerising with all their iridescent colours. The thrill of the thrumming noise they make flying really close past your ear is quite something! Trying to take a photo quickly enough whilst they’re darting from feeder to feeder and then back to the trees for a rest becomes a bit of an obsession that it’s very hard to draw yourself away from, much to the disdain of the gift shop lady who felt our children were too noisy. The hummingbirds didn’t seem to mind though! I took hundreds and hundreds of images so here is a tiny – but probably still too large – selection.

Key information: a tip for more natural photographs is to observe the birds for a while, pick out a branch they visit on a rotation, and wait for them to return; free parking on the street outside the café; there’s nothing to stop you coming in and not spending any money but obviously it’s good to support the café.

5. Santa Elena Street Art

A combination of wandering the streets on the hunt for murals alongside stops for ice cream or bakery treats is an easy win with kids. Depending on their age and mobility, you may even be able to browse the many beautiful boutiques full of delicate handicrafts too! We didn’t dare!

Key information: free parking on the street; consider combining with one of your Ranario visits

6. Stella’s Café

One of the only places that is literally in the tiny town of Monteverde is the famous Stella’s Café. It definitely lives up to the hype: it’s not only a beautiful place with very friendly staff but the sustainably-sourced food is completely delicious. You can eat in (or in the courtyard) or take out. We had to make a return visit for extra dulce de leche croissants! The pilgrimage is definitely worthy of classification as an activity rather than just brunch!

Key information: open 6:30am – 6pm on the weekend and 8am – 4pm weekdays; some groceries available; there’s a little boutique selling local artisanal crafts inside the café too.

7. Forest Walk Around Our Accommodation’s Land

If you opt to stay at Green Paradise Homes, then stepping off the house’s balcony, you’ll be met with instant jungliness. Thankfully there are signposts to follow and paths to an extent.

Small is an amazing wildlife spotter and was keenly mimicking birdcalls and demanding we all walk quietly! Tiny’s adventurer spirit was strong too, as we climbed inside the giant strangler fig trees which had done their deed on the trees they once grew around.

We also reached a precipitous viewpoint which gave me the mum-jitters! It wasn’t really the right time of day for seeing birds or mammals but we returned via a track and managed to find some interesting creepy crawlies as well as several beautiful blue morpho butterflies (possibly one of the most frustrating things to photograph ever!). The beauty of it being on site is that you can explore as often as you like!

Key information: bug spray advised!

And if you’re still reading, I’ve not forgotten about the reason for the ‘almost perfect’ accommodation. One morning, we were making the bed that Dean and Tiny had slept in and out scuttled a scorpion! Terrified but trying to stay calm for the sake of the kids, we caught it in a cafetiere and Dean escorted it a long way off the property!

Then I found a dead one on the one of the kids’ sticker books. Unsettled, we got on with our day and hoped that was the end of it. But the next (and final) evening arrived and we thought we’d better do a sweep of the beds again, just in case. This revealed a new one in the same bed and yet another in a bed we weren’t using which was on a mezzanine floor, up a spiral staircase! How on earth does a scorpion climb a spiral staircase?! (I’m sure they don’t – I suspect they climb and crawl through the walls and roof!) So – fairly illogically – I insisted the girls sleep with me in the only apparently unscorpioned bed which made for a very restless night’s sleep for me as I, very squashed, listened to every scampering, scurrying noise in the roof and outside. Thankfully we didn’t see any more! 

Some research and an exchange with our Airbnb host revealed that, at this time of year, scorpions are on the hunt for a cosy place to nest out of the cold so beds are ideal! Their nips are not deadly and are, in fact, part of daily life for locals and their pets. It hurts a bit but to the level of a bad bee sting but soon goes apparently!

I must stress that I don’t want to put anyone off staying in this otherwise amazing property but it’s something to bear in mind wherever you stay in Costa Rica in nesting season! 

And one last thing…

If you’re self-driving and on your way south – to Manuel Antonio for example – then consider a stop at Crocodile Bridge for some photos! Hold on tight to the kids though – the traffic is fast, the gaps in the railings are wide and the paths are narrow! There are plenty of souvenirs and refreshments available of course but the only thing we needed was ice cream!

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All information is correct at the time of posting. Follow us on Instagram @four_go_exploring for more independent family adventures.

See more of Costa Rica:

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park

Dominical

La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Check back soon for our final Costa Rican destination: Selva Verde Lodge in Sarapiqui, as well as a guide covering accommodation and loads of practical information to help you plan a visit!