Sunday in the Cloud Forest - Student Post by Aviana

One would assume that a week in a green paradise would get me used to all the lush beauty around me, but trekking into the cloud forest reserve today left me  completely in awe. I've been sitting here for roughly 5 minutes trying to find the right words to do it justice. I could have a whole stack of dictionaries and thesauruses and the only adequate word would still be breathtaking. Part of the beauty for me was the love our guide, Oscar clearly had for the forest. His excitement to show us the wonders the nature had for us was contagious, and it just made the things we saw all the more exciting.In the forest, my group saw two sloths (in Oscar's words, “Incredible!"), an Emerald Toucanet, a howler monkey, and a tarantula (gross). After the cloud forest, we went to an orchid garden, where we saw a whole slew of crazy orchids. One thing that really impressed me about the orchids was their range. Some were tiny.and cute and others literary smelled like cow poop (yes, I smelled it to be sure). If this was a Disney movie, this is the point where I'd need to drive in the life changing theme, so I'll leave you with this: the chance to explore and learn is truly a gift.