BulletHead
Adventurer
If you have the time to visit Corcovado Park, do it, you wont regret it.
10yr anniversary in Costa Rica
- Thread starter Nullifier
- Start date
Nullifier
Expedition Leader
Sorry for delay in getting this report done. We got back and things were crazy. I'm sitting next to my dad in e.r. For like 10 hours now. Bad complications after rotator surgery. Bad infection has had dr's running double time with a spinal tap and other testing. Looks like a long night so I got all my pics uploaded and I am now going to start the report. Since he is stable and sleeping.
Here is a teaser of a 50 yard water crossing we did in the little rav 4! This was running a road on the south side of lake Arenal.
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Here is a teaser of a 50 yard water crossing we did in the little rav 4! This was running a road on the south side of lake Arenal.
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Nullifier
Expedition Leader
Ok so just to back up a bit I want to say that Gen and I grew up really different and have really different back grounds in travel. I am more of the give a map and I'll make it up as we go, and Gen was the year in advance planner. However she has come around to my way of thinking mostly and once we are on the road she gets over her concern for the unknown and starts to enjoy the more organic way of adventuring that I prefer. But she is a brilliant researcher even on the fly and is really good at pulling little gems to our attention even with limited resources. We make a great team.
Once we got out of the hell hole we started at and just got on the road. Gen dove into some of our guide books as I headed down pan am one a general route to lake Arenal. On the way she was reading about the Rio Celeste and Tenorio. Being a water junky I was all in to see the river that was described as being "the place where God rinsed his brushes after painting the sky". I told gen to find a choice of 2 Eco lodges in the books that were close to the Tenorio volcano and hopefully one where 4wd was needed to get to since that really cuts down on party crowds. We turned off pan am 1 onto route 6 and headed north. There was a nice transition leaving the low dry land, and climbing in elevation toward the cloud forest. The road was really well paved. It rivaled any road back home in quality and I was getting concerned.
But after an hour we saw a sign for the resort and turned onto this.
After climbing up this road for 30 minutes and the sun getting close to setting we were happy to see the Tenorio mountain lodge.
Once we got out of the hell hole we started at and just got on the road. Gen dove into some of our guide books as I headed down pan am one a general route to lake Arenal. On the way she was reading about the Rio Celeste and Tenorio. Being a water junky I was all in to see the river that was described as being "the place where God rinsed his brushes after painting the sky". I told gen to find a choice of 2 Eco lodges in the books that were close to the Tenorio volcano and hopefully one where 4wd was needed to get to since that really cuts down on party crowds. We turned off pan am 1 onto route 6 and headed north. There was a nice transition leaving the low dry land, and climbing in elevation toward the cloud forest. The road was really well paved. It rivaled any road back home in quality and I was getting concerned.
But after an hour we saw a sign for the resort and turned onto this.
After climbing up this road for 30 minutes and the sun getting close to setting we were happy to see the Tenorio mountain lodge.
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Nullifier
Expedition Leader
Joel the owner was really nice and offered us a great walk up rate so booked for 2 nights. Once we sorted our room and relaxed a bit we went to dinner. Joel was from France and was a chef. He had a wonderful menu and way of blending the fresh local organic foods with French style cuisine. And with each night being inclusive of all 3 meals we did not go hungry. My wife is gluten free and he even made her gluten free pancakes or muffins or cookies that were really good!
The great service combined with his deep concern for being environmentally responsible made this place a great find. Highly recommend this place is you are in the area. Plus he drove his 4x4 4cyl manual 4runner down from Canada when he moved to costa rica. So he has great taste in cars lol.
[URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/nullifierx/media/Costa%20Rica%202014/briansphone4424_zps52b15287.jpg.html]
The great service combined with his deep concern for being environmentally responsible made this place a great find. Highly recommend this place is you are in the area. Plus he drove his 4x4 4cyl manual 4runner down from Canada when he moved to costa rica. So he has great taste in cars lol.
[URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/nullifierx/media/Costa%20Rica%202014/briansphone4424_zps52b15287.jpg.html]
Nullifier
Expedition Leader
The next moring we ate breakfast with some new friends from the Netherlands. They were just wrapping up 28 days in C.R.
We headed out and drove the road about 40 minutes to the Tenorio park. The start of the hiking trail for the Rio Celeste. The first 500m is paved but then the pavement ends and the gloves come off. I totally underestimated this trail and having just had knee surgery 5 weeks prior I was really in for it. The pavement turned to pavers and then muddy slippery steep trail covered in roots and large rocks.
Nice "easy" steps on the trial. This is where I started thinking this might not be a good idea lol!
Then it got down right ugly.
Finally we reached an observation deck with a nice view. At this point, Gen was wishing I had brought some of the Swedish fish with me I used to lure her to the top of El Yunque in Puerto Rico. She was seven months pregnant with our first then and I used her cravings to my advantage lol!
We headed out and drove the road about 40 minutes to the Tenorio park. The start of the hiking trail for the Rio Celeste. The first 500m is paved but then the pavement ends and the gloves come off. I totally underestimated this trail and having just had knee surgery 5 weeks prior I was really in for it. The pavement turned to pavers and then muddy slippery steep trail covered in roots and large rocks.
Nice "easy" steps on the trial. This is where I started thinking this might not be a good idea lol!
Then it got down right ugly.
Finally we reached an observation deck with a nice view. At this point, Gen was wishing I had brought some of the Swedish fish with me I used to lure her to the top of El Yunque in Puerto Rico. She was seven months pregnant with our first then and I used her cravings to my advantage lol!
Nullifier
Expedition Leader
Finally we found water! Pics just don't do it justice. One spot had a geothermal spring bubbling up right next to the trail.
Finally a rope bridge....and sketchy at that. This one had not even a nail keeping the cables in place!
So I sent Gen in first so I could "get" pictures lol.
And then we found it. The place where the Rio Celeste turns that amazing blue color!
Finally a rope bridge....and sketchy at that. This one had not even a nail keeping the cables in place!
So I sent Gen in first so I could "get" pictures lol.
And then we found it. The place where the Rio Celeste turns that amazing blue color!
Nullifier
Expedition Leader
So pics do not do it justice. From what I understood there are 2 geothermal hot springs that converge at this spot. One rich in sulfur the other rich in calcium. When they mix you get this amazing color change! Now someone more knowledgeable or translating with better Spanish might have a different story but that's mine and I'm sticking to it
On the way back we decided to throw caution to the wind and despite my knee pain hit the 650 stairs down to the base of the water fall. But it was the 650 up that hurt.
Once back at the lodge the next several hours were spent sipping some scotch and icing my knee while waiting for the evening meal.
On the way back we decided to throw caution to the wind and despite my knee pain hit the 650 stairs down to the base of the water fall. But it was the 650 up that hurt.
Once back at the lodge the next several hours were spent sipping some scotch and icing my knee while waiting for the evening meal.
Nullifier
Expedition Leader
So at dinner our new friends from the Netherlands and Canada were talking about there bad luck in locating the infamous frog from the cloud forests. Afterwards I told them to come with me on a close trail because although I had never searched for this frog I have a lot experience guiding night trips along the wetland rivers of Florida and frogs were a big part of our trips. 5 minutes later I found this guy just off the trail near a small pond. On a side note if this stuff interests you look into the frog listening network. They have a great program to teach you how to search out frogs for conservation purposes.
Touch this pic to see video
Touch this pic to see video
marksull992
New member
What lovely pictures. I envy you
Have you gone to Playa samara. It's awesome in their. Just a little town with nice hotels. I promise, you won't regret if you visit their.
Mark
http://mirenaiudlawsuitsinfo.com/
Have you gone to Playa samara. It's awesome in their. Just a little town with nice hotels. I promise, you won't regret if you visit their.
Mark
http://mirenaiudlawsuitsinfo.com/
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jlutzcurtis
New member
Great man, Costa Rica is a nice country to enjoy natural views. And celebrating anniversary out there is very romantic! This year my wife and me also go for a trip enjoy the valentine day.
REDrum
Aventurero de la Selva
Glad to hear you got up into the mountains and away from the playa and Tamagringo. Sadly, most of Guanacaste canton, except pockets like Samara and Nosara, have become the new Puerto Rico. Just finished viewing an amazing sun and moon set from the hills of Mal Pais. Pura Vida!
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