The Solo Scale:

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What do children have to do with forests in Costa Rica? Well, in this case, it might be even stranger to find out that it’s a bunch of Swedish children who raised money to protect land in Costa Rica.

The league was created in 1986 by a group of local and international scientists whose aim was to protect the area of forest surrounding the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. In 1987, the MCL embarked on an innovative land acquisition program, in which money that was raised by Swedish schoolchildren went to buy and protect threatened land. Since then, the league has worked with other organizations in more than 40 countries to help form what is now Costa Rica’s largest private reserve, The Children’s Eternal Rainforest (El Bosque Eterno de los Niños).

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest straddles the Continental Divide, encompassing 55,600 acres (22,500 ha) of virgin and secondary forest, as well as several reforestation areas.

Source: Children’s Eternal Rainforest Walk

At the rainforest, the guides will put people in small groups for your excursion. In these groups, you get flashlights, along with a warning that you’ll need to be quiet. Given that you’re looking to find animals, the last thing you want to do is disturb them. If you suffer from allergies, you may want to pop a pill before you go. I had a pretty strong allergic reaction once we got into the thick of the forest. That didn’t help me be very quiet when I needed to be. Bring a bottle of water with you, too, since it will keep you hydrated on the hike.

WARNING: There will be images of tarantulas if you scroll.

So, what can you see when you’re hiking? You’ll start when the sun is up and setting, so there’s a good divide between day, dusk, and night. While there are jungle cats, it’s extremely rare to come across them. Apparently, they’ve only turned up once or twice. You will see an array of birds and definitely bugs. During our night walk, we saw an array of colourful Costa Rican birds, sleeping hummingbirds, owls, tarantulas, and frogs. We searched for scorpions without results, but they’re usually near the starting point.

We arrived just before sunset and were there for a few hours until dark. There aren’t any places to stop and sit. You should be ready to be on your feet the whole time.

Your guide will stick with you the whole time, listening carefully for sounds of animals (owls and bats are the most common to find), and will try and discover as much as possible, but stay on the trail and don’t venture off. There’s plenty in Costa Rica that’s poisonous and fumbling around in the dark isn’t where you want to experience that.

To get more information and plan your visit, head to the website to search for a time that will work for you!

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