Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service

with me Mike Lanchin, first-hand accounts from history from the people who were

there. Today I'm taking you back to the 1950s and the

intriguing story of the start of one of the world's first eco-tourism resorts.

It was set up with the help of a small group of American Quakers who'd

gone to live in the remote Monteverde cloud forest of Costa Rica. It became one of Central

America's most famous attractions.

I've been speaking to two of the Americans who first went to Monteverde.

From out of my bed in the morning I can see the sunrise through the windows there and over the trees I can see into the lowlands.

And on a good clear day you can actually see the line of the Pacific Ocean.

My father and mother and I lived in a tent for about six months when we first arrived here in Monteverdi. It was well worth it.

That's 97 year old Marvin Rockwell and 88 year old Lucille or Lucky Gindon. They're two of the original

founders of the small mountain community of Monteverde or green mountain as they

named it. I spoke to them on a rather dodgy internet connection, which I think you'll forgive, given

their location high up in the Costa Rican cloud forest.

Just tell them what's the weather like today?

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