The dry season is a beautiful time of year to visit Cloudbridge, and we are happy to be receiving many guests who come to hike the reserve or stay in our rental cabins. Likewise we have been enjoying the participation and engagement of a number of excellent researchers and volunteers from Costa Rica and around the world. We hope that our readers have enjoyed the holiday season and wish you all a healthful and prosperous coming year. Here at Cloudbridge we have had a great 2022 and are looking forward to what 2023 may bring. We invite you to take a look at our 2022 Cloudbridge Report.
Research and Volunteer in Costa Rica
Hi I’m Louise and I am an intern here at Cloudbridge 🙂 I am from the UK and I’m doing this internship as part of my placement year at university where I’m studying my BSc in Wildlife ecology and conservation science. I wanted to learn more about a bit of everything so it’s great that so far at Cloudbridge I’ve mainly focussed on continuing their ongoing camera trap research which I’m really enjoying! but I’ve also been helping to build a herbarium of plants found within the reserve as well as being a part of weekly bird surveying, herping, owl surveying and the Christmas bat count! ?
Hi, I’m Thomas. A student at Bangor University, studying conservation with forestry. I will be finishing my time here at cloud bridge at the end of December after three months of bridge building, bird watching, trail building, tree planting and much more.
Hi! I am Paula and I am from Germany. After graduating from school I decided to go to Costa Rica to work there as a volunteer. First I was in Tortuguero for a month and after that I came to Cloudbridge. In total I will stay for five weeks and I am so happy about this experience. I love the nature and the animals here, especially the birds, which are way more colourful than the ones I am used to in Germany. The Cloudbridge Nature Reserve has nice trails which will lead you to the rivers and beautiful waterfalls (the one you can see in the picture is my favourite here: Catarata Pacífica). Thanks for this lovely time Cloudbridge!! I will miss you 🙂
My name is Petra and I’m a college student visiting from the United States. As a student of Indigenous Psychology, I’m very curious about the ways in which people develop with and find health in the natural world. Volunteering at Cloudbridge has been a great way to participate playfully in those age-old interactions and to make a direct positive impact on the world while making friends, enjoying the water and sunlight, and the company of various impressive beings such as quetzal and Mexican Elm.
Hello, my name is Sabine and I was a volunteer in the Cloudbridge project in December. I was allowed to take on different tasks, such as painting, making shelves and Christmas decorations, clearing paths, watching birds, evaluating SD cards and much more. I felt very comfortable and I really enjoyed the work. The community was also very pleasant and I enjoyed working with other volunteers. For me it was an experience-rich time in the project.
I am S. Balaji Naik. I am from Tirupathi, India. I am pursuing an MSc. in Tropical and International Forestry at Goettingen University, Goettingen, Germany. I am doing an internship at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica, under a liveSciences³ DAAD scholarship. I am a research intern at Cloudbridge. I am developing agroforestry in the unvegetated areas of the cloud forest at Cloudbridge.
My name is Finlay and I’m a research intern studying moss at Cloudbridge Reserve. Having been here for 8 weeks I’ve had a truly magically experience being surrounded by such diverse of flora and fauna in these misty mountains. I’ve been able to learn about birds, amphibians, plants, mammals while hiking through lush cloud forest or summitting Cerro Chirripó. I implore anyone reading this to come visit whether for a day or a year, there is so much to learn and so much to see.
Hike in the Rainforest
We are pleased to have built two bridges over the Uran River in the past month, rehabilitiating our Cloudbridge North Hiking Trails and allowing access to beautiful scenic areas.
Many thanks to our excellent workers Oscar and Edgar, as well as to our amazing team of volunteers and researchers, who made these projects happen!
Other safety measures around the reserve include a new railing installed at Catarata Caldera, we are thankful to offer a safe and exciting experience to visitors!
Pictures of birds and wildlife
Supporting other conservation initiatives
With twenty years of experience under our belt and a strong guiding mission, Cloudbridge is in a good space to advise groups who wish to creat a nature reserve in their own neghborhoods. Landowners in Berlín de Páramo are interested in Cloudbridge´s model of financial independence through the provision of services that forward our ideals of environmental education and research and allow visitors to appreciate the natural beauty of this beautiful land. The «Cerro Pelón» that is within the proposed nature reserve is a mystical place of many-hued mosses and wildlife.
The district of Rivas is largely drained by two rivers, the Chirripo Pacífico River (which runs through Cloudbridge) and the Buena Vista River. The junction of these two rivers is where the General River begins. Generally speaking, the Buena Vista watershed has suffered larger amounts of deforestation, which is why it is important that communities in this watershed such as La Piedra de Rivas are showing interest and enthusiasm for environmental education and ecotourism infrastructure similar to what is found in the Chirripó Pacífico Basin. In this context, it was with great enthusiasm that we participated in the Biodiversity Fair organized by the Biological Monitoring Brigade of La Piedra de Rivas on December 3.
Suggested Reading
- This December saw an important Biodiversity Convention take place in Montreal, Canada. The COP 15 was successful in many ways, we sincerely hope that these commitments will be honored with work on the ground.
- Biodiversity, ecology and nature in all of its forms is endlessly creative and inspiring. These infinity jig-saw puzzles are modeled after intricate natural systems.