The front desk at the
Fonda Vela hotel booked a tour for us (the same day we arrived) to travel into the cloud forest and walk along the hanging bridges. There are several companies that offer hanging bridges and ziplines, and the one we heard the most about was SkyTrek. The hotel must’ve had reciprocal arrangements with another company, Selvatura, because we drove right past the SkyTrek office. But I think Selvatura did a great job – the transportation was included, and it cost us about $35 each, which also included a guide to take us along the path. There were only four people on the tour, which was also nice, because we got a lot of dedicated attention and could ask all the questions we wanted.
While not a zip line adrenaline rush, stepping out onto a hanging bridge still takes your breath away. The bridge does sway a bit as you’re walking on it, but I never felt unsafe. the bridges take you into the treetops (if you’re scared of heights, don’t look down) and often times right through the misty clouds of the cloud forest. Our guide, Hector, knew his stuff, and you could tell that he was super excited about his line of work. I was a bit disappointed in the tour, only because we didn’t see much wildlife (though there was a neat hummingbird garden at the start of the trail, and those little buggers will zoom right past your head.) But we did see a lot of interesting plants (like the Angelina Jolie, or "hot lips" flower, and the snowman orchid) and it was pretty neat to be in the treetops. The weather was a bit rainy, but we were in a cloud forest, so that’s par for the course. Our tour started at 2:30, and it turns out the last bus back to the hotels was at 4:30. We got a little caught up, so I felt really rushed during the last 20 minutes of our tour. I didn’t like having to walk on those trails at a fast walk, I was sure I was going to turn my ankles.
I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to do the hanging bridges in Monteverde, but short of the zipline, the bridges are the only other way to really see the tops of the cloud forest. Many tourists combine the two experiences, but we were a bit too chicken to attempt the zips. But we heard and saw them throughout the tour, and everyone sounded like they were having fun. It was definitely a unique experience, and a way to actually stop and see things instead of just zipping past them.
From journal Costa Rica es Pura Vida