A Hike Through the Cloud Forest with Ricardo Guindon

By Bry Barber

Photo by Mark Powers

MONTEVERDE, Costa Rica — Everything in the Monteverde Cloud Forest is green. The leaves are green, the tree trunks are covered in greenery, even the air is green. Ricardo Guindon, a naturalist tour guide for the Cloud Forest, referred to experiencing the Cloud Forest as “breathing green.” 

Some of the trees were breathing the green air, too. Their roots swayed in and out of the green covered ground — their stunted, moss-covered branches ebbed and flowed in the waves of mountain winds. 

As we hiked, Guindon talked about the changing environment and the causes.

He donned a green tarp-like poncho, the color of the forest, Trek mud boots and a brown sun hat with a tuxedo stink bug as his worthy companion, greeting us from the brim of his hat. He called his Swarovski binoculars his “only jewelry.” 

Guindon described his passion for bird-watching that developed in high school after taking a job as a researcher’s assistant. He climbed trees to count eggs while observing the various species’ calls. He was bitten by the “bird bug,” as he describes. 

In recent years, different bird populations have been migrating to new areas. Guindon attributes such changes to complex causes like climate, tourism and competition between species. 

Despite the changes in climate, the personal impacts Guindon experienced with tropical storm Nate and subtle changes in plant and animal life over the past few decades, Guindon is hesitant to attribute these changes solely to climate change. He says the issue is more complex than one cause. 

Eco-tourism is another recent change in the region. When the Cloud Forest opened to the public, it had no more than a few visitors a day. Now, the park gets an average of 300 visitors and the numbers are expected to continue rising. 

The newly paved road to Monteverde will allow easier access for more tourists. Until November 2019, the unpaved road was a filter for tourists who are not fit for the experience, such as the elderly, young children or people who live with disabilities.

While expanding eco-tourism in the area allows Guindon to work alongside the birds he loves and gives him the opportunity to educate the general public, it also puts the forest at greater risk of destruction from human interaction.

Edited by Mark Powers