The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the original and the busiest, with well-maintained trails, a hanging bridge and the continental divide viewpoint where the wind hits you. Quetzals are found here in the fruiting season with a guide who knows the current trees.

The Santa Elena and Curi-Cancha reserves are the quieter alternatives — Curi-Cancha in particular has a reputation among birders and photographers for better sightings with fewer people.

The resplendent quetzal is the species most people come for, and it is seasonal: birds are most reliable from around February to July when the wild avocados they feed on are fruiting, and around dawn near a known tree.

The hummingbird gardens at the reserve entrances hold violet sabrewing, green-crowned brilliant and coppery-headed emerald at arm's length — the easiest wildlife photography in the country.

The night walks are excellent here: sleeping birds, kinkajou, olingo, tarantulas, side-striped palm pipers and the orange-kneed tarantula, all along short trails.

The drier months from December to April are the most comfortable; mist and wind are constant features regardless, and the forest is at its most atmospheric when it is wettest.

Practicalities

Santa Elena village is the base, reached by a famously rough road from the Pan-American highway — around three to four hours from San José. The road has been partly improved but expect a slow final stretch.

Hire a guide for at least one morning; cloud forest wildlife is genuinely difficult to spot alone, and the reserve guides carry scopes and know which quetzal trees are active.