Quetzals, Sloths & Bats

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We knew Friday would be our last day in Monteverde. For this reason, we saved the best for last. We decided to finally see the eponymous cloud forest that is the reason that so many people come to this place. Yes, it is immensely popular and we saw more people there than anywhere else we went, but there was definitely a reason for it.

The forest is amazing, with all the moss growing off the trees, trees growing upon trees, green everywhere - it looks much like the move Avatar - otherworldly. At one point, we came upon a vista of a huge tree that seemed like all of its branches had other trees or plants growing on it - it was so big, that it reminded me of that big fake tree in the middle of Disney World's "Animal Kingdom" - only this tree was real. It was the kind of tree that you can imagine our ancestors worshipping - that kind of scale and beauty.

As we hiked, we came to a little clearing that was clearly designed that way by the people making the trails. I thought to myself - there must be some reason why they created it. Yes, in fact, there was - I believe it was a good spot to see Quetzals. Because that is exactly what I saw next, a slight variation on the green of the trees, a green bird with a brilliant red chest. After taking a few pictures, we hiked on - and came upon another, smaller, quetzal. Probably a female. I suspect - as it is nesting season - that these two quetzals were mates and raising babies together.

Unfortunately we did not see any other animals in the reserve. Our children were not being as quiet as they could be, but furthermore, the woods were full of people and my usual "spider sense" of animal activity often turned out to be just other humans. I did feel pretty cool when I got to pass on to some hikers that I had seen the Quetzal - that is the reason that most people come to Monteverde, actually. They were excited to see it for themselves. In turn, they told us about a tarantula but we never found it.

We finally saw a waterfall and then turned around, about an hour and a half of hiking. My son was not this time napping in the backpack carrier, and was starting to try to get out of it, so we couldn't take longer on our hike.

Now, the trails were not ideal - they were improved for sure, but the surface of the trails were quite slippery and it was difficult on steep surfaces at times to keep one's footing. I would have preferred true dirt trails, roots and all. Aside from that, all the trails were nice and there were railings to prevent people from falling in dangerous areas.

After hiking, we visited the Sloth Sanctuary at Monteverde. It is a smaller version of their original center, in Limon province. Sloths are an under-appreciated but awesome creature, with two really different species living in the same places. I cannot pronounce both types, but once has a bigger face and snout and two fingers, and the other has a smaller, black and white face, and three fingers. They are much abused, especially by children, but also by people creating roadside zoos, raising them as pets, and also sometimes they are hurt when they climb on powerlines thinking it is a tree. This sanctuary rescues sloths, helps them re-introduce to the wild if possible, and otherwise keeps them there, happy and fed, and uses them to educate the population on sloths. Schoolchildren come to the sanctuary to learn about sloths and sign an agreement not to hurt them. We loved being so close to the sloths. They were not even behind bars or in a cage. Their eyes were so soulful! It was one of the best experiences of the week.

We had lunch that day at La Chimera. I wanted Alli to experience the food, but it wasn't quite the same. The stress of keeping up with Kai's wanderings around the restaurant took away somewhat from the experience. Unfortunately he did not take much of an interest in food - he persists in eating only "bars". Cereal bars. We went through 4 boxes this week.

In the afternoon, everyone else wanted to rest and in fact, Kai himself took a nice long nap. But then, he and I were awake so we went off to do something while everyone else rested up. We walked up the road to the Bat Jungle. We were met by the Belgian docent who offered us a shorter tour - of 30 minutes - for a reduced price. He himself had a 2.5 year old son and knew exactly what Kai needed. He entertained Kai with some lit-up bat skulls while he explained to me all about bats - hummingbird bats, insect bats, vampire bats - how bats are the sole pollinator of the Agave (tequila!) and bananas, how bats keep the insect population down, how bats are as smart as dolphins. I learned how bats have midwives, and nannies - how bats have one baby just like humans, and have nipples in their armpits beneath their wings. i learned that bats are born at 1/3 the mother's weight - imagine having a 50lb baby! Bats use energy to fly (unlike birds, who can soar) and they sleep upside down to make it easy to take off.

After looking at some bat exhibits, I was able to go in and see the bats, flying around in a darkened room (behind glass). I saw baby bats and giant bats (flying foxes). I learned how a pregnant bat had been brought to the enclosure and gave birth to a male, and they couldn't catch him to release him (they want only females because they believe captive breeding is bad), because the other bats hid him and soon the place was filled with even more bats.

I was inspired to build a bat house, as soon as I live in a more suburban place where we might actually have a place to put one, or perhaps Somerville could be convinced to install a community bat-house. more about that here: Bat Conservation International

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