Where the adventures are endless, and the animals roam freely! (Part 2)
If you've already read my past post, Guanacaste, Costa Rica Trip Review (Part 1), welcome back! If you haven't, you may want to get caught up on my experience getting to Liberia and my hotel experience staying at The Westin Reserva Conchal...it was fantastic! This was such an eventful trip to Cost Rica, that a Part 2 was warranted. In Part 2, I'll review all of the adventures we had. There are so many things to experience in Costa Rica and I felt like this first trip was just the tip of the iceberg.
Volcano Hike, Waterfall & Hot Springs Tour:
One thing you must experience in Costa Rica is a volcanic mud bath. Since we knew this was at the top of our adventure list, my partner booked a Volcano Hike, Waterfall and Hot Springs Tour in Rincon de la Vieja through Orbitz before the trip. Travel Tip #4: If you know you want to do a certain activity or see a certain attraction, I'd advise booking the tour before you leave. It can be difficult at times to book tours directly through your resort or cruise line, since days are limited and sometimes tours are simply booked.
This was by far the longest hiking tour during our Costa Rica trip! The first part of our two-hour hike was to the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano. Along the way we spotted some turkeys, iguanas, and monkeys. The hike went from bearable to really hot when we reached the fumaroles, crater, and bubbling mud pits. What a natural sight to see though and of course...it smelled like eggs in some spots!
Rincon de la Vieja Volcano National Park - Hike Visual Gallery:
The second part of the hike was much more refreshing. Traveling over a few hanging bridges we made our way to Oropendola Waterfall located just outside of the national park. The hanging bridges tested my fear of heights and the trust in my partner as only two people could be on the bridges at one time. You definitely have to be in sync with who you're on the bridge with to help minimize the wobbling! The waterfall was beautiful, and we were there for about 20-25 minutes. A buffet lunch was included in this tour, but I was so exhausted that taking pictures was the furthest thing from my mind!
Me Stopping for a Pose After Leaving the Waterfall
Volcano Hike, Waterfall and Hot Springs Tour - Highlights:
The last stop on the hike was to Rio Negro for the volcanic mud bath. The first step of the process is to soak in a hot spring of water heated by a nearby volcano for about 10 minutes. This opens up your pores so all of the purifying benefits can seep into your skin. There were different temperature selections, but either way, the water was hot and on top of the 90-degree weather...I was sweating bullets!
Once your pores are open, there is a station where you pick-up a bowl of warm mud. You are instructed to apply the mud over your entire body. Since my skin is pretty sensitive, I opted to not apply the mud to my face. It was pretty fun applying the mud...bring a partner! We got a chance to take pictures and mingle while the mud dried.
Me Covered in Volcanic Mud!
After the mud completely dries, you can either rinse off in an outdoor shower or in the river. I started off with the shower option, but my partner convinced me to get in the river as it was very refreshing. I'm glad that I did too, because it was indeed!
Travel Tip #5: Be sure to pack water shoes for hikes as they come in handy with the rocks at the bottom of waterfalls and rivers.
Although rinsing off completed the process, some people opted to get back into the hot spring. I decided to call it a day as I didn't want my pores re-opening. The mud bath probably sounds messy, but it was so relaxing! Several people on the tour bus commented on how relaxing the mud bath was as well. I felt like a new woman! Legend has it that, a volcanic mud bath will add 10 years to your lifespan.
Rio Celeste Waterfall Hike & Sloth Farm Tour:
The all-day Rio Celeste Waterfall Tour was great! We scheduled the tour through the Westin Club Lobby at The Westin Reserva Conchal a day in advance. On the day of the tour, we had enough time to get breakfast and make our way to the main hotel lobby for the tour pickup. It was about an hour and a half before our first stop to use the restrooms 🚻. And another hour until we arrived at the National Park to hike to Rio Celeste.
There is a one-way hike to the waterfall and is a total of about 4 miles to get in and out of the waterfall hiking trail. It was very humid, but we stayed clear of the rain 🌧 which was great. The tour guide mentioned that on certain days the water isn't the turquoise blue color that you'd hope to see, but we got to see the waterfall in its best form! There was a long stairway to get down to and up from the waterfall. Don't let the number of stairs intimidate you...the climb was well worth it!
Rio Celeste Waterfall in its best form!
Our tour guide, Albert, was very informative throughout the entire tour. During the hike we saw lizards, huge ant hills, edible leaves to keep you hydrated, beautiful butterflies, birds, unique looking trees, and flowers. We learned about the Cashew Fruit as well which I shared in a previous post. Before heading to a local Sloth 🦥 Farm, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch where I tried the traditional Casado meal for the first time...it was delicious!
The local Sloth 🦥 Farm visit was amazing 👏. We got lucky and saw two mother and two baby sloths just outside of the bus! The sloths were active throughout our short hiking tour, and we even got to see a sloth sleeping peacefully high up in the trees. He had a cute little smile on his face! The guides explained that there are different types of sloths. Some are smiley-faced and they either have 2 or 3 claws. The 2 clawed sloths are "more aggressive" with their predators.
Sloth Farm - Highlights:
Diamante Ziplining Tour:
All of the tours that we had in Costa Rica were great. On the last half of our trip, we went ziplining. We also scheduled the Diamante Eco Adventure Park Ziplining Tour through the Westin Club Lobby at the hotel. I've never been ziplining, so this was an adrenaline rush for me! The half day Canopy Tour through the upper parts of the dry forest had us at platform heights of up to 100 feet! Speeds can reach up to 20mph as well. We were lucky enough to be up in the trees with some monkeys...literally!
Travel Tip #6: If you decide to go ziplining anywhere, consider whether you will be in a dry forest, rainforest, over water, etc. I would definitely zipline again in different environments.
Travel Tip #7: The Waterproof Phone Case from Earth Pak also came in handy for ziplining (see in the gallery below)! You will need a deep pocket or something slim to hold your phone, money, etc. on this adventure.
To purchase an Earth Pak - Waterproof Dry Bag with Waterproof Phone Case visit Amazon.com.
*Please note that I am affiliated with the Amazon Associate Program.*
Travel Tip #8: The Diamante Eco Adventure Park offered an optional photo package to have a photographer capture some photos of you during the tour. Videos you will have to capture yourself! The price was $20 per person and you receive the digital copies through an email link that expires in 14 days.
Ziplining in Diamante Eco Adventure Park Guanacaste, Costa Rica - Visual Gallery:
I would highly recommend traveling to Costa Rica. There is so much to do from hiking to see natural wonders, horse-back riding along the beach to ziplining. Be prepared for hot and humid weather and to see animals roaming about...even at your hotel! Start your next Friday off in Costa Rica...cheers!
Nina
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