They’re still out there – some near, most far, all wide-open places waiting to expand your horizon. One of these places is the Santa Elena Cloud Forest in Costa Rica where a dense shroud of mist blankets the tight canopy. Golden flecks of sun penetrate the leafy ceiling and dapple the forest floor. Succulent epiphytic plants cling to soggy branches, absorbing drops of moisture from the air. A sparkling violet sabrewing buzzes past, stopping momentarily to scrutinize strange new visitors who have entered his enigmatic realm. A dung beetle busily drives a spherical gift for a female. A three-wattled bellbird bonks on a high branch to attract a mate.
You are in a forest where clouds meander quietly through the understory. Visibility is about a hundred feet. All is quiet. Suddenly, from above, you hear two deep, smooth melancholy notes. The first note rises slightly and the second descends. As you begin to examine the interlaced branches above, the melody repeats. Then abruptly you see a blur of scarlet and green streak across your field of vision landing on a branch only twenty feet away. The clouds drift past and you’re dazzled by a brilliant emerald gleam of an adult male Quetzal. From the top of its Mohawk-like crest, through its metallic green plumage surrounding a crimson red breast, and its long green and a white tail, there is three feet of this incredible bird perching before you.
The Resplendent Quetzal, it is one of nature’s ornate creatures and its home for most of the year is highland cloud forests. What commonly is called the “tail” is actually a pair of two foot long feathers known as tail coverts. In flight this elegant train of glistening emerald shimmers and sways much like the long ribbons of rhythmic gymnasts. The male flaunts these feathers during the mating season in a spectacular display flight in which it flies 150 feet upwards and comes swooping down in a graceful arc.
The Quetzal was revered by Mayans, but only royalty was permitted to wear its feathers. Mayan kings wore headdresses of dozens of the long feathers with their stunning iridescence. Montezuma, the Aztec supreme ruler, wore a cloak of over seven hundred magnificent Quetzal plumes.
Will the Resplendent Quetzal continue to survive for at least another two hundred centuries so our great-, great-, great-grandchildren can continue to admire this glorious bird in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, like their ancestors?
Only time can tell…
How to Get There
From San Jose take the Interamerican Highway north to Puntareas. Go another 12 miles (20 km) to the turnoff for Sandinal. The road is paved for a few miles but then be prepared for a bumpy drive. Thirty-nine spine jarring kilometers later you arrive in Santa Elena and then it’s a short 3 km to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Preserve.
Where to Stay
The Hotel Belmar is a beautiful Swiss chalet-style hotel (www.hotelbelmar.net) on the grounds of which I saw plenty of wildlife and heard the three wattled bellbird during my stay. The cost was $80 per night for a double. If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay try The Arco Iris Lodge in Santa Elena. A regular room with bath is only $50 per night, and budget travelers can stay in the “Bunk Rooms†for just $18 for a single or $28 for a double. With over 40 hotels in the area, one can always find a room for the night!
Where to Eat
The Morpho’s Café, in Santa Elena offers good, hearty, economical meals, with so much food on the plate you can’t eat it all.
need to go to work in order to survive, and often provide for their families.
‘One of my friends had gone to El Salvador the year before, and she said what an amazing experience she’d had, and that she was going back again’ says Lauren, reflecting on her 5 weeks spent volunteering.
The children come to the program part time, when they are not working, and are able to come to this program free of charge, thanks to the support of volunteers.
‘When you picture a country like that when you go there, you see these kids out there selling things, but you don’t really have a personal relationship with them, so it just gave an incredibly different face and a different perspective on child poverty and child labor. It was really different when you knew the kid, and knew about their daily life, and had a relationship with them, rather than when it was just some faceless kid trying to sell you something. I have much more compassion, and respect, and understanding of their lives, and what that’s like.’
Turkey is truly the meeting place of Europe and the Middle East. Although, generally, Turkey is considered a middle eastern country, its main hub Istanbul has a European feel with old world charm. This bustling city is a doorway into a country that has two distinct sides.
Cross the Rio Grande heading south and you’ll enter the United States’ southern neighbor Mexico. Mexico is a land of many contrasts, from the northern desert to the rainforests of Chiapas, and everything in between. This is a country filled with history and culture–one look at the Mayan ruins is testament to that–but it is also rife with isolated beaches, towering volcanoes, and glitzy resorts in places like Acapulco and Cancun. Whatever your passion, you’ll likely find it in Mexico.
Since 2500 B.C., the cultures that grew into the modern state of India have been involved in a wild dance of religion and politics that make the India of today one of the most colorful, culturally rich, hyperintense, and interesting places in the world. The culture, politics, and economic effects can run to such extremes, in fact, that tourists have often been divided in to “love” and “hate” groups when it comes to appreciating all India has to offer, in relation to the trials one must at times undergo to enjoy it.
My husband and I rented a beachfront, one bedroom apartment on the second floor of a three level apartment building. The apartment was very clean, bright, spacious and very well equipped, it was like being at home, we even had a laundry room just down the hall. We had a fabulous, unobstructed view of the ocean from our large shaded deck, and easy beach access through a public walkway on the front street. Noosa Heads offers a complete range of accommodations from the luxury beachfront suites to backpacker’s hostels and for the truly adventurous vacationers, why not rent a houseboat.
There was no end to the activities that would keep us occupied during the day that is if we wanted something to do. We could take a walk through Noosa National Park, easy to find, we just followed the signs to the walkway. The view of the ocean and surrounding areas were spectacular; the walking trails were easy walking, it wasn’t necessary to be experienced hikers. We stopped along the path and listened to the birds singing in the trees, examined the different plants and wild flowers growing under the shade of the trees, and took many pictures.
Suddenly we slowed our pace and over my husband’s shoulder he said “Look at the lizard”; now, I’m not a fan of lizards, but my curiosity told me that I needed to see what he was talking about. He took a step sideways off the path and there standing only a few yards away was large green lizard. The lizard was about five feet long from its nose to its tail, and while staring at us, it kept sticking out its long, skinny tongue. To me, it looked 8 feet long and it was probably going to eat us! The lizard animal walked off into the bush, minding its own business, and I was much relieved.
When the British withdrew from the Gulf in 1971, a group of seven shaikhdoms from the area united to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE has been growing as trading and travel destination, with its mountains, beaches, and deserts, and its welcoming attitude toward Westerners, as well as Easterners. The UAE is known for its dichotomous lifestyle: on the one hand, there are soaring skyscapers with all of the world’s biggest banks represented and bustling shopping malls around every corner, on the other hand there’s plenty of shopping to be done in traditional Bedouin markets (or souks) and traditional cultural activities such as camel racing–legacies of the days before the boom. But while the UAE is considered one of the safest places to travel in the region, it is advised that you steer clear of political gatherings or demonstrations.
While Indonesia’s spectacular beaches, natural resources, and laid-back lifestyle have attracted tourists, missionaries, and businesses for generations, recent political and religiously motivated events make much of the archipelago dangerous for Western tourists.
Mongolia is one of the world’s most untamed countries. This exotic land may be considered the last frontier in Asia, and despite a history that includes such all-powerful warlords and diplomats as Ghengis and Kublai Khan–roving horsemen who’s bands of warrior-statesmen were responsible for unifying the largest empire in history–it seems amazing this country has kept it’s independence, existing between such giants as China and Russia. But Mongolia survives, through harsh winters, a serious lack of infrastructure, and few natural resources… In Mongolia, you are nothing if not a survivor.