Hiking Rio Celeste

After a hard day's paddling in Caño Negro, we were only thinking of relaxing around the pool. Adri and Alex had other plans. They wanted to take us to hike up the side of a volcano and see the famous waterfall or catarata of the Rio Celeste in the Tenorio Volcano National Park. They even convinced Jonathan, Evelyn, and Ruth to join us! With the temptation of hot springs looming ahead, we eagerly packed up for another day in the great outdoors.

As usual in Costa Rica, finding our way to the trailhead was an adventure. Fernando and Alex stopped several times to ask directions from locals, and a good thing too! The recent heavy rains had washed out at least one of the roads. Undaunted, we made our way to the park. En route, we stopped to see the "Peace tree". We didn't have enough people to encircle it, so we had to make do with snapping photos in front.

Eventually, we arrived at the parking lot for the park. For some reason, it took a good solid half an hour to figure out where we were supposed to park and which trail to take. (Many of the trails were washed out.) We also put in our order for lunch at the soda with tilapia fresh from their pond. (Nicholas wanted to help catch them!) It would be ready for when we returned, about 2 o'clock.

From the start, the trail sloped steeply upward. We spent much of the time climbing stairs cut into the hillside. Nicholas and Alexander were fantastic and kept up better than some of the adults! In addition to the stairs there were many log bridges, some more than 100' long! After about 45 minutes of hiking, we arrived at the hot springs. Adri had advised us to wear our bathing suits so that we could partake. Unfortunately, because of the heavy rains, the river was swollen to the point of making the thermal pool only large enough for a small group, and there were already two soaking in it! While we waited for our turn, Alexander and Nicholas worked on building dams of their own by the banks.

Eventually, we were able to take a dip. It was amazing how quickly the temperatures changed. The hot water felt so nice and Nicholas even joined us. Alexander preferred to stay building his dams. We were eager to press on to be able to see all the sights, so we cut our soak short and headed back onto the trail towards the other attractions.

Rio Celeste is most famous for its milky aqua-blue water. It acquires the color suddenly when water heated by the volcano passes over a copper-rich rock and then meets a cold-water stream. We were mesmerized watching the transformation. Some of the pools are so blue that it looks unnatural. Not only that, but the water is crystal clear with a gravel bottom. Absolutely a stunning sight.

We also visited the "bubbling pool" of gaseous upwellings, the mirador, the suspension bridge, and the "blue lagoon" (no Brooke Shields in evidence though). Our favorite of all though was the catarata. (I love the Spanish word for "waterfall"!) We began by descending a precarious string of stairs set into the muddy soil of the volcano. Phil and the boys led the way. Their were lovely little flowers along the route and as we neared the pool, the roar of the waterfall became almost deafening.

We lingered for a moment, taking it all in. Then, Alex tells us that the trail leads across the river to the other side. Oh my! The current was very strong, but with all of us helping the boys made it across, no problem. In fact they did better than many of the adults who lost their footing on the slippery stones. The frigid water was a far cry from the thermal springs we'd enjoyed earlier, but it was exhilarating to have forded the stream. Now to get down the mountain to our lunch!

Lunch was absolutely delicious. The casados were exceptional, although whether from exertion or quality I couldn't say. For dessert they served us fresh local pineapple. Phil's a consummate pineapple snob, but the rest of us thought they were excellent. The presentation was beautiful too.

After cleaning all the mud off, we piled back into the cars and continued the trip to Puntarenas. The boys fell asleep almost instantly. We managed to make it all the way to the boat. What an amazing experience for our last weekend in Costa Rica before heading for Panama!