Rincon has definitely been the best experience of our trip so far. We jam-packed our 3 days there with more activities than I would imagine most complete in a week, but it was absolutely worth it! I genuinely think that we saw everything that the national park has to offer, and that is always a great feeling. The park is centred around a huge (currently active) volcano with natural volcanic mud pools; hot springs; steam pools, and waterfalls meandering down from it. They offer 4 different hiking trails which, depending on the particular trail, take you on a journey through EXTREME undulating rainforest or desert terrain, and enable you to catch a glimpse of all the different animals that live in such. Michael and I were very lucky with our choice of hotel as it happened to be located just within the boundaries of the national park, which meant that we got to see an enormous amount of wildlife around the clock, and had incredibly easy access to both the park and the tours offered by our hotel; both of which others have to travel for some time to reach.
The long:
Sunday:
We jumped on to another coffin to take us to Liberia (half way to Rincon) around 10am. This one, however, (thank god) was much more agreeable than our previous bus journey as there were hardly any people on board, and the bus driver drove the whole way with the bus doors open, which was an absolute blessing! Even though it was a 2 hour journey, it flew by just gazing out of the window, as we drove through real Costa Rican countryside and small communities (ever so slightly different from staring out of the bus in London). Upon arriving in Liberia we walked approximately 1 step before taxi drivers started crowding us to seal the deal. Once a price was agreed, we were on our way. I can see why no buses go directly to the park or our hotel since the roads are in serious need of some maintenance; what should have been a 20 minute journey in terms of distance took us just under an hour.
Michael and I did a super quick turnaround to make the next free shuttle offered by the hotel to the park. We chose to visit the Rio Negro hot springs and mud bath.
And were not disappointed! There were 4 natural hot pools of varying temperatures that you could (try) to get in to, with a cold river running through the centre of them. You would not believe how hot some of the pools are considering they are created purely by nature; I dipped my foot in to one which was 40 degrees hot and got a bit of a shock, although I must be a pussy because there was a man who just sunk himself in to it like it was any old regular bath.
After relaxing in the only pool which I could actually manage to get in to for an hour, we painted ourselves in mud for an all-over body exfoliation; thanks nature, you just saved me £50 at any London spa! Obviously, we had to get snap happy during this as 1) it's not something you get to do every day and 2) it's so fun being gray!
(Shame about the mud on the tooth...) Once fully covered you have to wait 15 minutes for the mud to dry, during which time we were cornered by a bald little Italian man wearing speedos who joined us to paint himself. A few minutes later, he was telling us that the rich elite (including Berlusconi) control the economy and decide the fate of every individual country, hence he was a "citizen of the world", so that he could decide his own fate; no one was going to get the better of him! Urmmm, slightly extreme conspiracy theory if you ask me.
Anyway, you wouldn't believe how strange the sensation of mud drying to your body is. As it dries, it seems to suck all of the heat out of you and makes you really cold, whilst making your muscles feel super tight and stiff. The effort of washing it off though is so rewarding as my skin literally felt like a baby's bottom!
Once back at the hotel and freshened up, we headed to the hotel restaurant (the only restaurant for miles) for a spot of dinner. One would think that a burger and chips would be one of the safest possible options that one could ever order off a menu, but apparently not in Rincon. The chips were essentially raw slabs of potato. After informing our waiter of the issue and presuming that he had fired a new order of chips, we waited patiently... until all the other food was eaten. Upon enquiring where these much-anticipated chips were, our plates were cleared, and a few minutes later THE SAME RAW SLABS WERE BROUGHT OUT ever so slightly more warm with a few black bits around the edges. This was both much to our annoyance (due to extreme hunger) and amusement... who would have known that you would ever need to specify how you want your chips cooked.
Monday:
The alarm went off at an unspeakable hour (6am) so that we could get ourselves prepped and fed ready for our day of ADVENTURE. Having signed ourselves up for the "Adventure Tour" the day before we knew that we had a big day ahead so filled up on a hearty breakfast. Gallo pinto was on the menu and very quickly became Michael's staple breakfast meal; it turns out that it's rice, pinto beans, herbs and spices, and exceptionally yummy! It seems that the hotel restaurant may well be on it's way to redeeming itself...
With full bellies, we began our first activity of the day; horseback riding. The hotel has its own stables with north of 100 horses, which is quite novel, although I must admit I do wish they had slightly more meat on their bones.
Please meet Michael's horse, Tequila (no explanation needed):
And here we have mine, Murcielago, which apparently means "bat":
They very kindly took us to 1 of the smaller waterfalls in the national park:
Despite my ass feeling like it had been beaten with a wooden plank for an hour, it made me really miss horse riding. I find horses such beautiful creatures and think they are one of few animals that humans can really have a bond with. Maaaaaybe 1 day far away I could maaaaaaybe have my own. We shall see.
Time for the next activity; tubing. I was a little apprehensive about this as I've never done anything like it before, and the thought of being sucked into a rapid and spat out at a rock was one that I did not want to become a reality. It turned out that the activity was more akin to white water rafting. We sat in big rubber rings and sailed down the river for an hour, encountering plenty of rapids along the way, which spun you around and bounced you off boulders plummeting you downwards no matter which way you were facing (I, of course, ending up going down backwards for the majority). It was, in fact, great fun, but also pretty damn scary, and I cannot believe that they don't have more accidents when I looked back at what I had just come down. Michael and I took my "tough underwater camera" and got some hilarious snaps of the whole thing, but unfortunately with concentrating on not smashing our legs into a rock and a Spanish man unintelligibly yabbering our ears off, it slipped off his wrist to be forever swallowed by the rapids. The men co-ordinating the whole activity were so kind and two of them trekked back up the river with Michael in an impossible attempt to recover it which, obviously, was fruitless. The rest of our group went on in the "tourist bus" to get lunch whilst I waited with the remaining tour operators for Michael and the others to return. This episode put us on pretty good terms with their team and I must emphasise once more how great I have found Costa Rican people. We then joined them on the "worker bus", which in my eyes was a treat as we got to see some true native driving, with our bus driver overtaking a lorry on a bumpy road with an upcoming bend... bearing in mind we were traveling in a rejected old yellow school bus; thrilling to say the least. But we had a really good laugh with them and continued to do so for the rest of the afternoon.
After a bite to eat it was time for none other than canyoning and zip-lining, which was bloody brilliant.
We completed 10 zip-lines in total of varying lengths exposing us to different scenery, zipping us above rainforest and between canyon walls over-looking rivers below, which gave us some pretty incredible views. No matter how many times I did it though, I could not stop being fearful of failing to stop and slamming in to a tree, resulting in me releasing a feeble and embarrassing yelp every time I came in to the braking zone. Nonetheless, I absolutely loved it and both Michael and I agree that we would do it a million times over!
The zip-lining was interspersed with various other fun activities, one of which was repelling down the canyon at top speed. At this point I must proudly state in capital letters THAT I DID IT UPSIDE DOWN.
Another was rope, or "Tarzan", swinging between the canyon sides, which our newly acquainted Costa Rican friends took full advantage of, and great pleasure in, by repeatedly pushing Michael and I back and forth whenever we neared the edge of safety (which I have 0 complaints about; it was amazing!)
"I'm a bird, I'm a birrrrrrrd":
We also did rock climbing, which was pretty eerie seeing as I'm not too sure how effective the limp rope attached to us would be at preventing one from falling to their impending death if a foot were to be misplaced or a hand slip. It was also bloody hard work; my arms are still throbbing!
Of course, the token loud American had to show up at some point, and he made his appearance during the zip-lining and canyoning activity. He was called Chris and there was, quite honestly, never a silent moment; any inkling of one was swiftly filled with "fist pump", "high fiiiiive" or "whooop". They must put something in the water though because for some inexplicable reason Michael and I took a real shine to him. He was a pretty funny guy and, as one would say, "brought some life to the party", although this didn't stop him getting a few dodgy glances from the polite, softly-spoken Spaniards amongst our group.
During our walk back to base we stumbled across possibly my favourite part of "animal life" that we have encountered so far; a long line of ants marching with little green leaves above their heads to build their nest. We ended up seeing this multiple times during our stay but it never lost its charm to me; so simple yet so amazing.
It was nearing 4pm and had been a full day of ACTIVE activities in some serious heat, so it's fair to say that we were pretty exhausted. Yet, we had one final activity to go; a tour of the Butterfly, Snake and Frog Farm. Thus, at least, it was due to be a relaxing one (or so I thought). Due to no other takers, Michael and I were lucky enough to get a private tour of the farm, which was wonderful as it meant we actually got to learn about the animals, could ask questions and go at our own pace (which you so rarely get to do on group tours). However, due to being outnumbered on the gender front we went at a MUCH slower pace than I would have liked through the snake area... at feeding time.
*FAIR WARNING*: Some not so pleasant pictures coming up:
I was genuinely on the verge of tears when they brought out the baby.
I tried to comfort myself with the whole "this is what happens in the wild" story but, funnily enough, a man dragging huddled squealing mice out of an over-stuffed miniature cage with pincers and dangling them in front of their death with no chance of escape wasn't quite the same for me. The boys took no notice of my obvious discomfort however and, instead, proceeded to joke about how appetised they were and how hungry they were feeling.
I decided to walk on. Thankfully it didn't take long for them to join me. I took much more joy in holding this absolute beauty. I must admit I've never been one for snakes or other scaley-skinned animals but there was something about this Boa Constrictor that I fell in love with. It just seemed very gentle and I loved the weight of it and the feel of its skin (I did fleetingly picture a handbag but we'll pretend that didn't happen).
The butterfly area was full of fluttering wings. The species common to Costa Rica are cool because when their wings are shut they all look exactly the same, and only when they open their wings do you see that they are hiding all sorts of different colours.
Their pattern is also incredibly clever as it disguises them to look like a snake (cover the left half of the butterfly with your hand and you see a snake's face bottom right). The large dark circle also looks like a staring eye, so all-in-all they are pretty good at fending off predators.
It was a long, rewarding day. We knew we would sleep well that night, and that we did.
Tuesday:
BIG DAY. My god, if my legs knew what they were in for they may have shied away from the task ahead. It was the best day I've had in a very long time; the things you work for in life are always the most enjoyable and memorable, eh. We hiked 15 gruelling kilometres in alternating shade and searing hot sunlight, completing 2 hikes in 1 day, which I can assure you is no mean feat.
We started our first hike at just after 9am, having been told that the Blue Lake Waterfall was a 5km hike to reach, and 5km back to base. On we went. After about 15 minutes the "path" (and I use this term loosely because there really was no such thing) appeared to be closed off, with red tape strung between 2 tree trunks stating "caution" in capital letters. Upon seeing this we were slightly baffled and came to the conclusion that we must have taken a wrong turn, so began to back track. Only once we had back tracked so far that we may as well inquire with the ranger what the situation was with the tape, did we gain the knowledge that if we had taken just a few steps further we would have seen a different path sprouting off to the right, and that the tape was only there to signify that there were wasps in the area (slightly misleading if you ask me). 45 minutes and an extra kilometre later, we were back to where we had left off, with renewed determination!
The first 2 kilometres took us through dense rainforest, up and down steep inclines, using only exposed tree roots for grip and tree trunks for stability. The forest was honestly alive. The combination of insects buzzing, birds chirping, monkeys howling, and other weird and wonderful animal noises quite literally filled your ears. The sun rays which managed to find their way through the canopy glittered light on certain trees, plants and water streams, making you feel like you were in another world. I actually told Michael that I felt like Alice in Wonderland although, instead of a yellow brick road, I was following the vines.
Michael and I also quickly noticed the vast number of different types of mushrooms flourishing in the forest, and it soon became a mission to spot as many as we could. I will include pictures of some of the most spectacular but we saw and took photos of so many more.
We cruised past this nasty looking piece of work as fast and quietly as we possibly could:
A little over an hour later, we stepped out into a different universe where everything was bright and hot,
including us.
I can assure you that my attire was more than appropriate. We were sweating BUCKETS. I think it must have been mid-30's and there was a lot of very testing undulation, where the only method of going up or down was by using rocks as stairs. But seriously, I have never seen views like it. It was amazing to get such good vantage points of the volcano as well.
I honestly didn't need a reward. I was so content with everything we had seen so far, but I'm pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head when we finally reached the crown jewel, the Blue Lake Waterfall.
It was SO beautiful. And we had it all to ourselves for about 20 minutes. Again, I am dumbfounded at what nature can produce. The water you have to enter to swim out to the waterfall is ice cold, but one can just about manage with the knowledge that where the waterfall meets the pool there is a hot spring to return some warmth to your limbs.
After half an hour's relaxation and ensuring that we had taken an eternal mental image, we began the trek back. I am so glad that we started as early as we did as we passed many people on our climb back to base and, although you cannot dispute the wonder of the waterfall, it was definitely so special for Michael and I because we were able to absorb it all on our own.
We stopped at a neat little river 1 hour in to our return journey for a quick re-fuel of lunch that we had managed to put together and sneak from the breakfast buffet. We squatted on rocks and feasted on tissue-wrapped sandwiches, boiled eggs and rationed water; I felt like a modern Western version of the characters in the book I am currently reading - "And the Mountains Echoed", by Khaled Hosseini, where they take long hikes through the Afghan mountains and must carry paper-bound food and leather pouches filled with water, which provided me with much amusement.
(Of course I lost my footing crossing the river and got my shoes and feet soaking wet!)
We completed our first hike in 4 hours and 40 minutes, with 3 hours and 55 minutes of that consisting of non-stop hardcore walking. I tell you I don't think I need to squat or lunge again for another year with the amount of climbing we did.
But as the old saying goes, "no rest for the wicked", we went straight in to our second hike, called the Las Pailas loop, which is 3km long. This route took us through pure rainforest, and we saw some incredible wildlife.
The Las Pailas loop also led us to natural volcanic mud and water pools, which obviously produce natural gases that I can tell you first-hand do not smell too fresh, but are unbelievable to see.
7 and a half hours of hiking and mental picture taking is both physically and mentally rather exhausting. My legs were officially jelly and my lower back was sore, and I don't think I have ever looked forward to lying on a bed so much, but I had a huge smile on my face and I wouldn't have changed an absolute thing. It was the BEST day and although some of the pictures capture the beauty that we saw, they still do the reality no justice whatsoever.
Unfortunately, the hike to the very top of the volcano was closed off due to the volcano currently being too active and producing gases that absorb oxygen molecules, making it unsafe to climb, particularly in light of the higher altitude. Thus, Michael and I may well cross paths with Rincon de la Vieja again in future, since I can only imagine how immense it would be to see the volcano in action and its effects on its surroundings. Till next time, Rincon.
Wednesday:
We decided to relax and enjoy our last few hours in Rincon rather than try to activity-ram them, so we oiled up and chilled by the pool for 2 hours before heading to the airport. Quite literally just as we were putting our bags in the taxi, rain began to fall and it wasn't long before it was so heavy that we could barely see the road in front of us, which we clearly found rather alarming, but seemed to be of no issue to our driver. Then the lightning and thunder started. This was, BY FAR, the brightest and loudest it has been so far. We obviously began to wonder whether we were actually going to make it out of Rincon today, which was only magnified when we arrived at the airport and there was absolutely nobody there. I've honestly never seen anything like it. Apart from 3 ladies at one end of the check-in counters all huddled together, the place was completely deserted. Oh, and freezing. God knows why anyone would ever make a place so cold. BOTH Michael and I were shivering, which means it actually was cold, rather than me just being me. And, of course, we had left extra early to make sure that we made our flight... so had to endure 3 hours in the freezer before departure.
The airport was also minuscule which made passing time rather difficult. Oh, and ludicrously expensive at $6 for a bottle of water and $11 for a big bag of Lays crisps - blooming mental! Finally, our questioning of whether or not we were going to leave Costa Rica was answered when they announced that our flight was boarding... Thank god. We were 1 of 6 passengers on the flight, or should I say the mobile refrigerator, because it was impossibly even colder on the plane than it had been in the airport.
Anyway, first leg was down before long. Thankfully San Salvador airport was much bigger and we managed to fill our wait browsing the shops and stocking up on snacks. The flight itself was pretty insane however; we actually flew through lightning, several times. The turbulence was the worst I have ever experienced and it was crazy watching the flashes of light outside of our tiny windows. The cabin crew didn't seem too perturbed though which I always find helps settle the nerves.
Touch down in Guatemala City; hurray! After a whole day of travelling it was nice to be so close to the finish line and know that we were actually going to make it to our final destination! We swiftly changed our minds about taking the public bus to Antigua when some locals warned us against it, saying that it was dangerous at night, even for them. So, instead, we hopped in an airport cab taking comfort in the fact that we (hopefully) wouldn't get robbed, and arrived at our hotel at just gone 11pm. We made a bee-line for bed, piling on the covers and getting cosy since it turns out that Guatemala is much cooler than Costa Rica.
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