The last 18 miles of the road leading to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica, full of ruts and potholes by design, takes more than an hour and a half to navigate, and the locals like it that way. They choose not to fix it because it would be too easy for tourists to…

As we press deeper into the rainforest, further down an undulating path, under an ever-denser, darker canopy, the creepy-cool creatures reveal themselves, one at a time. First, a giant morpho butterfly, its wings flashing bright purple, skimming just above the path, and our heads, fluttering in a rush, like it was late for an appointment….