Santa Elena

Today was Christmas day, and I took a hike through Parque Santa Elena. Santa Elena is the less touristy reserve, and I decided to go there for that reason. I glanced at a map and decided to hike the longest trail there which was Cana Negra at 4.5k. It was a real rainforest; lush, tranquil, and expansive. The thick rolling fog causes the trees to become so saturated they showered down droplets of water, mimicking a real rainstorm.

The trees themselves were practically small ecosystems. There were about ten to fifteen different types of plants growing on most of the big trees, and it looked like the perfect home for a sloth or squirrel monkey. I saw a couple of birds, which were small, and one Millipede, which was rather large and colorful.

I think all of the animals were sleeping, or they heard me coming and hid from el gringo. After my hike, I decided to go to the mariposa gardens.

I imagined swarms of mariposas (butterflies), and what great pictures I would be able to take. When we got inside, we didn’t see swarms, but it was really interesting to see the different kinds fluttering about. My one complaint was that it was difficult to capture the moving butterflies. It takes my camera a second or so to focus and snap the picture, and the butterfly would often be gone. I did manage to catch a few mid-flight, and caught some nice pictures of cocoons and flowers. Some of the cocoons looked like gold nuggets, and other like objects of the forest. Most cocoons looked like some sort of dead leaf or piece of a tree, and others like pieces of poisonous fruit. It was interesting to see the defense mechanisms that the butterfly employs to save itself. Most cocoons were displayed in a sort of kiosk, where they hang them to hatch, but others could be found on one of the many plants. The whole terrarium was filled with plants, as each species of butterfly has its own plant on which it lays its eggs. The plants were beautiful, and I took some really nice close-ups of flowers. It was a really relaxing and informative experience, even though the humidity was very high inside the terrarium.

Santa Elena was pretty awesome, and I enjoyed being surrounded by nature in this beautiful place. It was a bit dank, and a I was pretty tired after the hike, but my fond memories far outweigh the bad ones.

Conquering the Forest,

Seamus