THE CLOUD FOREST

A day where most of the Intrepid Group live up to the name and get their adrenaline fix by swinging from high wires and jumping off improbably high objects.  For me the adrenaline comes from coffee and a visit to an organic coffee plantation.  Obviously yesterday’s climb into the ‘hills’ was deceptive as the plantation is at over 1,200 metres.  Global warming is an issue here, as increased rainfall and humidity over the last few years has led to a dramatic increase in fungus and rust which shortens the lives and even kill the plants. 

Chemicals could solve the problems but then they would no longer be organic.  At present they survive by diversification of production; sugar cane, bananas, plantains, oranges and limes all being grown on the same land. 

I wanted to buy a lot but there’s no way I’d get it home without the bag breaking, so a small bag for Christmas will have to do.

The entire town of Monteverde seems to be set up to exploit the forest environment for tourism.  In many ways it resembles an alpine type resort with a quality of accommodation to match. 

Here, at Historias Lodge, even re-cyling is encouraged with a range of bins for different classes of rubbish.  Whilst eco-tourism may be an environmentally superior way to exploit natural resources, I wonder where it fits in the scheme of things when prices are pitched at a level that might be considered extreme even in the USA.  Should tourism be the main plank of a country’s economic development or should it be part of a broader strategy?  One benefit of protecting the environment is that I got the chance to photograph some humming birds close up but this was the best I could do.