Not only does flying save me time and tiredness but I nearly always get at least one surprise photo on the little 30 to 40 minutes flights over Costa Rica. This latest flight to Liberia and back gave me many photos, but just two special ones today: The above photo of a very tall unknown waterfall with no roads around it! — My main prize! Saw it just south of Liberia and hope to find out its name, though I think it is isolated from tourists!
And again we fly over Atenas and I get a good photo showing much in Central Atenas (Central Park, church, schools) plus the roof of my house in the upper left corner to left of the little roundish cow pasture. The string of houses over the hill is Phase 1 of Roca Verde where I live near the bottom of the hill by cow pasture. 🙂
Flying over Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
“There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings.”
~Wilbur Wright, 1905
This final post on the Rincón de la Vieja trip shares some scenery and a little more about the hotel and park that I hope provides a “sense of place” concerning this unique national park and adjacent hotel.
Sense of place is the sixth sense, an internal compass and map made by memory and spatial perception together.
~Rebecca Solnit
In the northwestern corner of Costa Rica there are volcanoes and ranches. Rincón de la Vieja is unique to all the volcano parks in this drier, western part of the country, reminding me of the southwestern U.S. with persons riding horses as common as bikes and wildness depicts the beauty and sense of place. Plus this hotel is a working ranch. Here’s two galleries and brief evaluations of both the hotel and the place.
Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín
Inside my room
Hot Springs
Lots of Birds!
Sunset
Well-maintained Trails
My Room
Garden Art
Many Rivers!
Good signage everywhere.
Great Trees!
Excellent Nature Guides!
One area of rooms
Inside & Outside Bar, Casual Dining
Swimming Pool
Hacienda Guachipelín is a large, old, ranch-style hotel on more than 2,000 hectors of land with more waterfalls than the park (8) and it is a working farm & ranch where you can actually be “a cowboy for a day” helping real cowhands or just take one of several horseback riding trips. And seasonally watch a rodeo!
All the typical adventure tours are also available like zip lines, white water rafting, tubing, rappelling, canyoneering, biking, ATV, hot springs & mud baths, a Spa, plus an on-property serpentarium, butterfly garden, Mirador (scenic overlook), and more trails than you will likely use!
My room was basic, comfortable and good for my purposes. It was a longer walk to the restaurant than some and if you need to be close, request that when making your reservation. They offered to move me but I need the walks!
The restaurant food is okay good, just not great, with the wait staff service also mediocre except for the separate bar which had great service! In high season or fuller capacity the restaurant is all buffet style and breakfast is buffet even in low season (now). I am not fond of buffets. 🙂 I ate my usual two meals a day here; a big breakfast from the buffet & omelette bar with an early, good dinner from the menu at outdoor Bar (one of above photos). Restaurant didn’t start dinner until 6:30.
The Scenery
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Sorry I failed to get photos of horseback-riders!
Working farm.
Crested Guan in the Park.
Chorreras Waterfall.
In foothills of mountains.
Vista from Hotel Mirador.
Oropendola Waterfall.
Working farm – Greenhouse for Tomatoes.
Well-maintained Trails
My favorite farm road!
Vistas from all over hotel grounds.
Gorgeous trees!
Flowers everywhere!
All national parks are well maintained here!
One or two trips to the park is enough to see most everything there. Had I gone a second time I would have done the 10-K walk to their largest waterfall, Cangreja Waterfall, but didn’t this time. Much of the rest is like a smaller Yellowstone park with lots of thermal activity from the volcano (hot springs, bubbling mud, steam or smoke, and yellow rocks from the sulfur).
There is actually more to see and do on the hotel property than in the park, especially for the adventurer or the bird-watcher. And though I saw birds in both places, you see more on hotel property because it is more open and walking the farm roads is the best way to see and photograph birds. I saw 25-30 species, photographing most and got four new birds, “Lifers,” here: the Lesser Ground Cuckoo, White-fronted Parrot, Magpie Jay, and Western Wood Pewee. Very good for me! Plus I got two new butterfly species and some new snakes in their serpentarium.
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
Here’s some butterflies I photographed on the hotel property during my stay there. The only two that are new species to me (if labeled correctly) are the Felder’s White and the Blue & White Heliconian. Love them all!
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
~William Shakespeare
Guachipelín Butterflies
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.
Malachite
Julia
Felder’s White
Gray Cracker
Sara Longwing Heliconian
Veined White
Tiger Heliconian
Postman
Blue Morpho
Colobura Dirce
Unknown Caterpillar
Heart-spotted Heliconian
Blue & White Heliconian
Fritillary
Owl’s Eye Butterfly
The caterpillar among the photos appeared on my leg right at the hem of my shorts. The Hot Springs attendant took a flat rock and scooped him up then on to the flower on which I photographed him. He looked scary at first, thus today’s quote:
“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
And by the way, I’m home now for at least 3 weeks! I’ll wrap up these reports, a gallery and photo book soon on this interesting “wild west” vacation. Then prepare for a relaxing repeat visit to Arenal Observatory in November.
I took the shuttle bus to Rio Negro yesterday morning for the 4 waterfalls and hot springs which I had alone, all 8 pools! I sat in one for about 25 minutes which is long enough for 40 degrees centigrade (104 F). As I was leaving a van of tourists from Spain came in from another hotel to soak in the hot springs.
The three birds are new ones for this trip. And these 3 were all photographed before breakfast in trees in front of my room! 🙂 The featured photo at top today is one of those, a White-fronted Parrot, a new bird or “lifer” for me!
This approach view to #4 is similar to all 4 approaches from the dark forest.
4 Rio Negro Waterfalls
#1
#2
#3
#4
Rio Negro Hot Springs
Dressing Rooms, Lockers & Bathrooms
Springs & Mud Pools on both sides of river
Well-maintained trails
Plenty of signage
Look over river to other pools
One smaller pool
My pool
A river runs through it!
Hot volcano water comes from ground near pools.
Each pool has temperature posted
I relax for 25 minutes
2 swinging bridges cross river
A tour group from another hotel
3 New Birds
White-fronted Parrot
Red-lored Parrots
Baltimore Oriole
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”
-Aldous Huxley
Sunset by My Room Last Night — I leave this morning for Atenas via plane & taxis.
Just a 4 km walk yesterday morning – to breakfast(0.5 km) and afterwards directly to the Chorreras Waterfall through parts of the Hotel farmland and other scenery (1.5 km), watching employees arrive by bus, bicycle, motorcycle and walking. A pleasant walk down a dirt farm road that became rocky and steep on the hill by the river and waterfall. Then the 2 km return with a friendly dog.
As the first one to the Falls that morning I was greeted by the barking dogs and very helpful security guard, Norman, a friendly young man from Nicaragua. (Costa Rica doesn’t chase its immigrants away or put them in cages.) And as in this case, immigrants help make life better for all of us here! 🙂 I love our immigrants! (And of course I am one myself!) 🙂
Like most Latin Americans, Norman showed a great degree of respect for my age and seemed a little surprised I was hiking in the mountains and climbing down steps to the waterfall, offering to help me of course. Evidently not many 79 year-old people are as adventurous! 🙂
We talked about the difficulties of me learning to speak Spanish and him learning to speak English. Then he shared a quote with me in both English and Spanish to encourage me in my language learning (probably someone used to encourage him), which I include in both languages at the end of this post. Great advice from a young man that I will take to heart! “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Wow! I love living here! All the neat people! And places!
My dog companion walking ahead of me here.
No rain the previous afternoon or night, thus the Falls not as full Norman said. After visiting with Norman awhile I walked back and one of the guard dogs decided to walk back with me, all the way to the Adventure Tours station, nearly 2 km, where they said he does that frequently with guests – every creature is friendly here! 🙂
Chorreras Waterfall
Birds on the Walk
Rufous-capped Warbler or Yellow Warbler
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Rufous-naped Wren
Hoffman’s Woodpecker
Great-tailed Grackle
Hotel Grounds on the Walk
Young Adventurers a Tourist Target!
Some workers come on “Motos.”
A working farm.
Mountains surround the farmland.
Greenhouse for lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
Some workers come on Bikes.
They used to do regular rodeos.
Flowers on the Walk
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
Vive como si murieras mañana. Aprende como si vivieras para siempre.
~Mahatma Gandhi – Given to me by Norman at Chorreras Waterfall to encourage me with my study of Spanish. 🙂
Johnny took me to the Rincón de la Vieja National Park today and we hiked 5 kilometers. My favorite part was the two waterfalls, one in the park and one outside near the entrance but on hotel property. Currently it is not safe to go look into the active volcano but we did see the smoke, hot water and bubbling mud which reminded me of Yellowstone. It is a tight forest so difficult to see birds but I did get some shots of a Crested Guan and some other wildlife.
Waterfalls
Pailas Seasonal Waterfall
Oropendola Waterfall
2 Hikers & the Park
Volcanic Activity
Wildlife
Golden Orb Spider
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Fritillary Butterfly
Mantled Howler Monkey
Crested Guan
Veined White Butterfly
Crested Guan
And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.
Yesterday was my guided bird watching hike and business is so slow in this low season (few tourists in rainy season) that I was given two guides for my solo birding hike. Great and very productive! We saw more than 25 or 30 species but not that many photos!
Below are the ones I got usable photos of with 2 of these as “lifers” or first time photographed for me: Lesser Ground Cuckoo (also the featured photo) and the Magpie Jay. Plus a third lifer without a very good photo – Western Wood-Pewee. A very good morning! 🙂
Guachipelín Birds!
Magpie Jay
Spot-crowned Euphonia
Blue-crowned Motmot
Lesser Ground-Cuckoo
Inca Dove
Clay-colored Thrush
Orange-chinned Parakeets
Keel-billed Toucan
Gartered Trogon female
Black-headed Trogon
Roadside Hawk
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Stripe-headed Sparrow
Masked Tityra
Squirrel Cuckoo
Rufous-naped Wren
With My 2 Guides
And Javier really likes to get group photos, securing another employee to snap this on both our phones. Johnny on the left was technically the main guide who is more experienced and been around here awhile, but Javier (my guide the day before also) was the “Eagle-eye” – really good at spotting hard-to-see birds.
Johnny will be my guide today into the national park, which won’t be as many birds with the volcano, hot springs, mud pots, etc. like visiting Yellowstone!
“I WOULD RATHER OWN LITTLE AND SEE THE WORLD THAN OWN THE WORLD AND SEE LITTLE OF IT.”
One of the 5 waterfalls on the hotel property is where the whitewater tubing adventure begins but I did not want to do the tubing, so the adventure tours staff let me ride on the early guide’s bus (5-miles) to the falls and ride back on the return bus.
I just photographed the falls which included a short hike down the mountain to the falls with my guide Javier and his 8-year old son Santiago (asst. guide). Fun guides that also took me to the butterfly garden and snake exhibit after the waterfall + birding along the way. A very good morning before it started raining! Bird, butterfly & snake photos will come later.
Quebrada Victoria (a small stream) forms the waterfall at the point where it flows into Rio Colorado and at that juncture is where the tour staff & participants depart on the whitewater tubing (in big tractor inner tubes) down the rocky Colorado River – see feature photo above. Easy enough for families with children to participate. I did that growing up in Arkansas as a kid and had a day-long tubing trip on a similar river when in college and decided it was not needed again! 🙂
The tours here also include a serious whitewater rafting trip down a bigger, wilder river with class 3 & 4 rapids, but I’ve also done that in TN and once was enough! 🙂
La Victoria Waterfall
It was not the prettiest but one more check off the list!
Where tubing begins.
La Victoria Waterfall
La Victoria Waterfall
La Victoria Waterfall
La Victoria Waterfall
Javier insisted on making a photo of me with his son, who, like all Tico children and youth, was very respectful of age and very helpful, polite & friendly! A joy!
Santiago & Charlie on the trail to Victoria Waterfall.
“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.”
– Lovelle Drachman
This happened yesterday. Today I have another guide (Johnny) + Javier taking me birding here & then on a tour of the national park. Lots more photos! 🙂
By the time I get to a place and settle in I usually have less than half a day there but seem to get as many or more photos as other days – the excitement of a new place I guess! And so it was yesterday at Hacienda Guachipelín! 🙂
So to spare you, I’m saving today’s birds and butterflies for another day and putting today’s other photos in slide shows so it won’t look like so much. 🙂
Airplane Shots
Domestic Terminal, San Jose Airport
Atenas! 2nd Time to Fly Over My House!
Landing for Sonara stop.
Near Sonara.
Muddy rivers into ocean.
Landing at Liberia.
A U.S. Coastguard plane, Liberia.
Hotel Grounds
Hotel Mirador (Vista Point)
Hotel Flowers
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart”–Confucius
On my 4 km walk to town yesterday, on the one steep hill, I came across this sidewalk grasshopper in the featured photo above. (Actually a Cricket – See Comments below. I stand corrected!) 🙂
Sorry I can’t identify him – but that’s not expected here since we have 11,000 species of grasshoppers and crickets in Costa Rica as part of our more than 500,000 total insect species! — More bugs than the U.S. & Canada combined! 🙂 And oh so much fun! See my InsectsGallery or just my Grasshoppers Gallery to stay with today’s theme. I only have photos of 13 of the eleven thousand, so a ways to go in that collection! 🙂
Here’s a fun, educational YouTube Video about our grasshoppers with jokes about how some people in the world eat them, though not Ticos! They do not eat them here like some in Mexico and of course my past home of West Africa. I’ll just stick with photographing them! 🙂
Just another of the many daily encounters with nature while being retired in Costa Rica! Love it! 🙂
“Crowds of bees are giddy with clover Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet, Crowds of larks at their matins hang over, Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.”
~Jean Ingelow
¡Pura Vida!
P.S.
I arrive at Hacienda Guachipelín in Rincón de la Vieja National Park mid-day today and may start posting at odd times as things happen on this new and exciting adventure! Or I may try to keep the discipline of one-a-day posted for release at 5 am, which I kind of like. Keep reading the blog for totally new photos and scenery this week. Pura vida!
Click the linked article for one of the most practical list of how to live cheap in Costa Rica – in short it is all about the life-style you choose and I can testify that living without a car not only saves lots of money but is easy and fun here! The article is by Christopher Howard in his “Live In Costa Rica” blog & website – the one who also does a great relocation tour coupled with the ARCR Seminar. Panama may be cheaper, but Costa Rica is a whole lot better! 🙂
Just a 4 km walk yesterday morning – to breakfast(0.5 km) and afterwards directly to the Chorreras Waterfall through parts of the Hotel farmland and other scenery (1.5 km), watching employees arrive by bus, bicycle, motorcycle and walking. A pleasant walk down a dirt farm road that became rocky and steep on the hill by the river and waterfall. Then the 2 km return with a friendly dog.
