Sunday we drove to Liberia, the biggest city in Guancaste Province to attend church. We didn't stay too long as we were trying to make it to Tenorio Volcano National Park and beat a storm in the forecast. We had read a lot about this park the night before and I was so excited to check it out. A hike in the jungle to a beautiful waterfall with crazy blue water? That was Costa Rica to me. In our reading we learned that rain and this hike do not mix well so we wanted to make sure we beat the storm if possible. Rain makes the trail incredibly muddy and a lot of rain dilutes the bright blue color of the water. Lucky for us we made it in time! We only felt a few raindrops on our hike back. This spot is so popular in the high season that they limit the number of people on the trail to 500 at a time or 1000 a day. There were a decent amount of people there when we were hiking but it was not overly crowded.
Beginning of the trail. This trail took you over 2 or 3 hanging bridges which is always fun. I can't imagine how hard it would be to maintain this trail with the amount of rain they get in Costa Rica.
The hike was not difficult. To get to the waterfall you have to walk down and then back up around 275 stairs that are not equal in height but both Lydia and Jared did great. I was so excited that I did not mind them at all. Lydia was less excited and did not love our hike but was able to do it well. I was so happy that we went.
First glimpse: Rio Celeste
There have been a few different ideas as to why the water is this color blue. Local traditions claim that God dipped his paint brush in the river when he was painting the sky blue. (I love this idea) The latest research supported idea is that the water in the river is actually transparent. Scientist from the University of Costa Rica found that the river and the rocks along the river bend contain aluminum mixed with silicon and oxygen and when the sunlight hits the river those mix and cause an optical illusion. Whatever the reason it's gorgeous.
Continuing on the hike takes you to the spot where two rivers meet. This is particularly interesting because you can clearly see where the two rivers mix. The river Rio Buena Vista and the Quebrada Agria. We also climbed up a mostly safe lookout tower and enjoyed a lovely view of the jungle surrounding us.
Lydia was a little nervous on this bridge. It moved quite a bit for the first 10 steps or so.
I love how clearly you can see each river.
This is one of the volcanoes. (the cloud line) We never saw the tops of any of the volcanoes we drove by, they were always covered with clouds even it if was a sunny day.
After our hike we stopped at the restaurant near the ranger station and ate some delicious hot off the grill chicken. It was so tender and flavorful. And it was so nice to just walk over to the grill pay our 1000 colones and grab a skewer. We ended up going back for more and got 2 smoothies. It was the perfect little meal, probably my favorite of the trip. A friend saw this picture and asked if it was a deconstructed taco which was a great description. We just called it meat on a stick.
Pictures from the drive back:
Countryside
I always want to take pictures of the cemeteries in Central America. I think they are so interesting.
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