Encantado is a 2.5K trail, and fairly easy. The trail was well-maintained, lots of "stepping stones" to keep from getting muddy. I spotted a few birds and an armadillo before the near-constant drizzle turned to heavy rain.

After finishing the Encantado loop, I took the Bajo (-something) trail, which was only 1.5K, but made up for lack of distance with difficulty. It was probably worse due to rain, but there were fewer steps, just mud, steep and uphill most of the way. It was not a loop, so at the end I caught half of the Youth loop to come back to the beginning. That trail was practically flooded! So glad I brought two pairs of shoes to Costa Rica! The Youth trail also had an observation tower, which I climbed for no real reason other than that it was there...I knew with the rain there would be nothing to see! It was cold, wet, windy, and slippery--best to only try it when dry.

Granted, rainforests look especially beautiful in the rain, it's just hard being IN it. Next time I'll have to try the Caño Negro (3.5K) trail--apparently it was the muddiest and most slippery.

MONTEVERDE
Monteverde is also open from 7am-4pm. It was $6 with ID, I believe. Not sure why, but I enjoyed Monteverde a bit more. It rained even harder and there were probably more tourists. . . albeit still very few because it was low season. Something about it just seemed more quintessentially "rainforest" to me.

As before, the rain was too much for the mammals, but I arrived at 7am to see a decent number of birds. Spotted a toucan! There were loads of beautiful butterflies. . . before the rain, of course. Monteverde's trails are not loops, so one trail runs into another. If it hadn't been raining I would have tried more, because one trail was supposed to be frequented by monkeys. But with the downpour, I satisfied myself with going around the circle, about 6km total. The last trail goes along the river, and is a bit scary. The Rio trail is very narrow in parts, and simply drops off into the river far below. Near the end is a small waterfall, nothing on the scale of Fortuna of course.

If you have time, see both. I was in Monteverde for four days, so I had time for a lot of hiking. But if you can only see one, I guess I would go with Monteverde.

Canopy tours are offered here for those who wish the thrill of sailing through the trees, which is an adventure but not a way to view wildlife. Any wildlife would be scared out of its wits by the screams and yells of those people swinging through the trees.

There are wild orchids and bromeliads everywhere in the trees and insects and animals of all types. I came across a beautiful orange-kneed Tarantula in the woods., along a trail. The suspension bridges and trails are the way to see the plants and wildlife.T here are various types of hotels here for all budgets, including backpackers and hikers as well as upscale mountain lodges.

There is regular bus transportation to this area from San Jose and other areas as well as one-day tours available in San Jose. Some people rent four-wheel drive vehicles for the drive on a rough, gravel road. It is slow going as the road is rough and there are potholes from the rain which is almost a daily event.

This is a small mountainous community of farmers and dairy farmers and people involved in the tourism industry. The road will probably guarantee that the community will remain small and isolated which the residents probably want to keep that way. You can charter a small plane into the area but otherwise, you will always have to deal with that road.

It is worth the trip only if you stay overnight as it will take at least four hours each way to Monteverde and you do not want to drive that road in the dark with the steep dropoffs and potholes. The trip on the way is very scenic and you will see lots of wildlife on the way so the trip is well worth it, but if you don't stay overnight, you have very little time to enjoy the area.