For the last few days, we've been exploring the cloud forests of Monteverde. The founding of Monteverde is very interesting, because it's unique to the rest of Costa Rica. It began with four Quakers from Alabama who were jailed in 1949 for refusing to register for the draft in the USA. Quakers are a pacifist religious group, who don't believe in war.

After their release from jail, the Quakers began searching for a place to settle where they could live peacefully. After searching for land in Canada, the United States, Mexico, until finally coming to Costa Rica. One of the main reasons they chose Costa Rica, is because Costa Rica has no military. They chose the Monteverde area because of its pleasant climate and fertile land, and because it was far enough from San Jose that the land was cheap.

44 original Quaker settlers, from 11 families, arrived in Monteverde in 1951. Many of them flew to San Jose, but some people drove all the way from the US.

The Quakers bought 1,500 hectares (2.25 acres per hectare) and began dairy farming and cheese production. Early cheese production was 30 pounds per day. Today, the Quakers produces almost 2,500 pounds per day.

Monteverde is a very popular tourist destination, and one of the major attractions is the Quaker farm. Many people in the town are decedents from the first Quakers to arrive in 1951, and if you're lucky you can run into some of the original settlers.