Not far from Monteverde, we were in a cloud, at 5,000 feet, straddling the continental divide of Costa Rica. Our tour was tough going. It rained. And rained. And because of the impossible weather this day, we three will remember it well.

If you are a two-toed sloth up here, or a jaguar or rodent or bird, you have a daily situation in which you just get rained on and rained on after ten or eleven a.m. That, as we learned firsthand, is life up here in the cloud rainforest.

That’s why, even though everyone shows up here in a raincoat, they still purchase the $3 emergency ponchos to wear over the raincoat.

We did about 3 kilometers—in rented mud boots—through heavy rain over trails that challenged us with slippery steps, deep mud puddles, and protruding tree roots. This reserve is at a higher elevation than the more famous nature reserve several miles down the road, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

The guide pointed out these adorable, teeny-tiny orchids: