Day 26: Rincon de Volcan

Day 26:  Saturday,  March 12

     Left the Oaks around 9:00am to drive to Rincon de Volcan. We stopped in Liberia  at a bank to  get Nicaraguan money and found out that the banks are not open on Saturday. Journeyed on to the gas station. They give you great service at the gas pumps. An attendent always puts the gas in for you and washes your windshield with soapy water and hose it down with a water. Gas is about $3.75 a gallon, but they sell it in liters.

                                             Getting directions to the Ricon National Park    
      We drove a few kilometers north of Liberia and turned right down another rugged dirt and gravel road. The sign said it was 20 kilometers  to the park. This road was much better because we could drive in second gear. We had to drive through a gated area where a gentleman collected 700 colones each for passing through his property($2.80).We got a few kilometers from the park and decided to find the hot springs first. While drivng about an hour down this road we passed a geothermal electrical plant. They were using the hot waters from the volcano to power electricity. There were many men working on the construction of this site.
     We arrived at the   Rio Negro Hot Springs. Paid the attendent $5.00 each and walked a little less than a kilometer to the pools. There were three different  families there when we arrived. One older lady from Boston had traveled here by herself by cab. One family was from Portugal. Another couple sat in the hotest pools...we don't know how they stood it for so long.

                                 This hot, hot pool shows the cold stream that runs right by it.

                                                The bridge over the river to the hotter pools.

     After about an hour of enjoying the springs, we drove into the National Park. Lots of cars and tourist buses were parked.

After talking with a gentleman from Minnesota, we headed for a hike to the Oropendola  Waterfall. It was about a 20 minute hike through a field and into the forest. During our hike we came across a colony of ants that were scurring both ways across the trail, over huge rocks, and back across the path again. Hundreds of them were following the same route in a straight line and it was fascinating to watch.  We continued down the trail and going down many tall rocky steps, and a set of wooden steps, finally coming to a stream. Looking further up the stream, we spotted another set of wooden steps going up over the hill.  So we balanced across a fallen tree and hopped many rocks to get to the steps. After climbing the steps and following another  short path we arrived at a beautiful waterfall and a nice aqua pool of clear water. The pictures just don't capture the beauty of it all.

Rocks we climbed over to get to the falls.

     After returning to the car, we met a couple from Montreal who needed a ride to the lodge. We enjoyed talking with them as we took them a few kilometers down the road. They had hiked to the top of the mountain....the whole trip started at 8:00 am and they had just returned at 4:00. They shared their pictures saying that it had rained on them and was cold on top.  There were no views off the mountain because the clouds were so thick and foggy. They said the last 2 kilometers were quite rugged and they were glad to be down and have a ride back to the lodge. They had visited some friends in Nicoya during the week and were heading back to cold Montreal in the morning.

     We dropped them off and  headed back down the same rugged road in second gear. An hour later we stopped in Liberia to get another card for the camera. Larry enjoyed making the  purchase, having to go upstairs to pay for it, and then showing the receipt to the guard at the door. On the ride home we passed through several villages that had carnivals, ball games, and other activities going on. Many, many Costa Ricans were out in the road walking to the events...causing another night of watching the road nervously for the unexpected pedestrian. We arrived back at the Oaks around 8:00 pm thinking about our great day in the hot springs and at the waterfall.