This ecolodge (tel. 506/2645-8049, www.uga.edu/costarica, $10 day visits, $6 students, $20 guided tour, $10 per hour horseback rides) is affiliated with the University of Georgia and doubles as an integrated tourism, research, and education project on a 70-hectare farm and botanical garden at San Luis eight kilometers southeast of Monteverde (the turnoff is immediately east of Hotel Fonda Vela on the road to the Monteverde reserve; it’s a steep descent).

Resident biologists work with members of the San Luis community to develop a model for sustainable development.

The station offers a wide range of activities: horseback rides, bird-watching, cloud-forest hiking (plus a hike to the San Luis waterfall), night walks, and hands-on laboratory study. Open-air classes are given, including an intensive seven-day tropical biology course. You can even help farm or participate in scientific research.

It has accommodations in a cozy wood-paneled bunkhouse with shared baths, a bungalow with private baths and verandas, and 12 cabinas.

A taxi from Monteverde costs about $10.