Today I saw a wild peacock for the first time in my life. I also saw an armadillo, a white nosed coati, and a variety of cool looking birds and insects.  The variety of wildlife and greenery which I have seen demonstrates a distinct difference between the Central Valley (San Jose and Heredia), and Monteverde.  Monteverde as a whole is much more “green” than the Central Valley, with the majority of its scenery being made up of plant life.  In this respect, is Monteverde definitely a much more bio diverse area than Central Valley.  The common nightly sound of cars bustling through the city is replaced with the noise of birds and insects.  As a result of the more natural setting, the people of Monteverde seem to be more invested in measures which promote sustainable power use, such as the necessity of hotel keys to use lights in each room.

The surroundings, people, and communities in Monteverde match my initial expectations for Costa Rica. In fact, I was more surprised to see that San Jose was so similar to the city within which I reside in the United States.  Having conducted research on Costa Rica’s great strides in becoming more sustainable and reducing their carbon footprint for our first blog, I assumed that Costa Rica as a whole would be filled with greenery and trees.  Having read that the country aims to make the country 60 percent forested, I could not believe the statement based on seeing Heredia and San Jose.  However, that perception is most definitely changed as a huge portion of Monteverde is covered with trees and filled with wildlife. I now see an example of a place where humans can live while limiting our damage to the environment.