About a kilometre before the entrance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Curi Cancha is a small private reserve of about 80 hectares set up by a local family in 1997. Half the land is pasture being allowed to regenerate; the rest is cloud forest. The mix of open ground and forest edge is what makes it so good for birds.
Curi Cancha is regarded as the single best place in the country to see the resplendent quetzal, especially in the March–May breeding season. Keel-billed toucans, three-wattled bellbirds, motmots, and trogons are regulars, and three-toed sloths and white-faced capuchins are common. The reserve admits a limited number of guides per day, so it stays peaceful even when other reserves fill up — book ahead in high season.