As a submarine pilot, my tendency is to go slowly and study my surroundings in great detail. It was very peaceful, that is, until a millipede made my sister scream. It was layer upon layer of leaves blowing in the cloudy wind. There were birds calling, but what struck me most was the sound of the clouds, kind of a light, rustling of leaves in surround sound. I never imagined what a cloud forest would feel like before.
Animal sitting on clouds skin#
I could feel particles of water from the flowing clouds in between the little hairs on my skin and permeating the fabric of my clothes. The only way I can describe what it felt like is this: It’s as if I were riding on an airplane and suddenly the airplane disappeared. What I didn’t anticipate was standing on a suspension bridge hanging 100 feet up in the forest having this wet, chilly breeze rustle my hair. When thinking about Costa Rica, the cloud forest was an environment that was completely foreign to me. You can’t predict what that experience is going to be or when it is going to happen, but it’s going to be awesome.įor me, the cloud forest was that experience. You might go with mission objectives, but you know that the experience that will turn out to be life-changing is not the experience you were expecting. When we landed in Costa, there was this sense of anticipation that comes from knowing you are about to explore a new place and you don’t know what to expect-and that’s fantastic. Photograph by Parker Young Into the Clouds