OK – I’m lame. I totally thought that this full day event was going to be a 9 hour hike, turns out that the whole excursion was going to be about 9 hours including lunch and travel time, so – yes – I’m very lame. But the description of this volcano hike said it is for the more advanced hiker. WOW I can see why, up and up and up and down and down and up and up.
The drive was the BUMPIEST drive I’ve ever been on in my life. Someone decided to “pave” the road with rocks, seriously. Then later decided to move the rocks to the side of the road. Honestly, it didn’t feel any different at all. It took nearly 2 hours to get to the hiking site. We passed by many native wooden houses of the local people, it gives you a lot to think about and makes you reflect on how different life really is everywhere you aren’t. Our guide Rafael was really funny. He was very animated about the situation in Costa Rica with immigrants from Nicaragua and how they form gangs, cause violence and refuse to work and assimilate. He would stop hiking just to start rattling off what is going on politically. Dallas found that quite entertaining. I was too tired to think about it but I thought it great that many people don’t want to change their third world status because they love their country as it is. They dismantled their army in the 1940’s and put all of their money into healthcare and education. 95% of the country is literate, which is why they rely on immigration for their farming. 20% of the country is from Nicaragua and their main import is tourists. We heard this about 6 times during our trip. I think it is part of the education for their tourism certificate. ;-)
The reason I selected this hike was because I wanted to see the beautiful blue water. The silica in the water from the volcano reflects the most amazing shade of blue I’ve ever seen. I fell down, again. Our hiking shoes are just terrible with wet rocks and I received three tennis ball sized bruises to show for it. We were just glad it didn’t rain on us, as soon as we returned for lunch though, it started pouring! There were a lot of people on the trail, many families going to the waterfall and hot springs. Costa Rica closes down for the holiday week and families recently have been involving themselves in the surrounding nature, which is great for preservation. This was the muddiest hike we’ve ever been in. We also had the chance to drink volcano water that was coming out of the stones in a little waterfall, I hope there aren’t any parasites. Best part was when Rafael said, this water is cleaner than the water that was originally in your bottle, look at it – it’s clear…well you can’t see bacteria buddy!
We found out today that our serving staff at our hotel works 7 days a week during the busy season, for 3 months straight – not a day off. That’s amazing!
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