"Bienvenidos Reserva Los Cedros", the sign nearly hidden in the thick foliage reads, providing the first indication, after hiking for three hours, that you are nearing your destination.

Not long after you arrival, you may realize that Los Cedros Reserve is not, in fact, your final destination. It is merely a basecamp strategically placed and designed, by conscious and dedicated people, to aid you in further travels to further destinations.

From your bed in the reserve you can travel in any direction (including up or down) deep into the wild world of a living, breathing, constantly re-and-decomposing, never-stopping, ever-changing cloud forest habitat. Maybe you'll spy a hummingbird that can't be found in any identification book, or maybe you'll come nose-to-petal with an olfactory-receptor-tickling orchid, or maybe you'll feel the wind on your cheeks as a flock of parrots jet by. Or maybe you'll have a conversation with a fellow Los Cedros visitor that unearths old ideas and sparks new ones.

Experiences like these may expose undiscovered or forgotten passions, or at the very least enrich you life with memories and freshen your senses as you directly participate in forest conservation.