Hacienda Guachipelin & Rincon de la Vieja Volcano
Today we spent another day in the spectacular Guanacaste region and this time we left the coast behind us and ventured inland. Our captain dropped the anchor just off of a small beach village called Coco and after making a wet landing on a sandy shore, we board small buses to take us to the entrance of Rincon del Vieja National Park.
The Guanacaste conservation area has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. It protects one of the last well-preserved stands of tropical dry forest in Central America. This volcano is one of Costa Rica’s richest and most varied national parks whose centerpiece is a broad massif formed by the Rincon de la Vieja and Santa Maria volcano. With nine craters that melded about a million years ago, its base is flanked by mud pots and fumaroles, which help the volcano vent its steam. Its most active episode in recent history was between 1966 and 1970, but in 1995 and 1998 eruptions caused its campesino neighbors to flee their volcano-side homes.
The park is a watershed for 32 rivers, and we got to see some of them by crossing suspending bridges over pristine streams, giving us that sense of exploration and adventure that we were looking for. Once we got to the Guachipelin Ranch, many of us decided to go horseback riding toward the fumaroles and main “pailas” (boiling mud pots). The “sabaneros,” Costa Rica’s cowboys, lead us through the trails of the hacienda, giving us a moment to remember. We were privileged enough to spot some of the amazing wildlife of this area: coatis, agoutis, howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys. We also walked through the wonderlands of pits of boiling hot water, vapor vents that stain the rocks red, green, and yellow due to the iron, copper, and sulfur in the steam; and mini-volcanoes that emerge spontaneously.
After our volcano experience, and before we started back to the Sea Voyager, we had a barbecue lunch at the ranch located on the foothills of the volcano. And we even closed the day with a salsa dance session. What a day! What an experience!
Today we spent another day in the spectacular Guanacaste region and this time we left the coast behind us and ventured inland. Our captain dropped the anchor just off of a small beach village called Coco and after making a wet landing on a sandy shore, we board small buses to take us to the entrance of Rincon del Vieja National Park.
The Guanacaste conservation area has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. It protects one of the last well-preserved stands of tropical dry forest in Central America. This volcano is one of Costa Rica’s richest and most varied national parks whose centerpiece is a broad massif formed by the Rincon de la Vieja and Santa Maria volcano. With nine craters that melded about a million years ago, its base is flanked by mud pots and fumaroles, which help the volcano vent its steam. Its most active episode in recent history was between 1966 and 1970, but in 1995 and 1998 eruptions caused its campesino neighbors to flee their volcano-side homes.
The park is a watershed for 32 rivers, and we got to see some of them by crossing suspending bridges over pristine streams, giving us that sense of exploration and adventure that we were looking for. Once we got to the Guachipelin Ranch, many of us decided to go horseback riding toward the fumaroles and main “pailas” (boiling mud pots). The “sabaneros,” Costa Rica’s cowboys, lead us through the trails of the hacienda, giving us a moment to remember. We were privileged enough to spot some of the amazing wildlife of this area: coatis, agoutis, howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys. We also walked through the wonderlands of pits of boiling hot water, vapor vents that stain the rocks red, green, and yellow due to the iron, copper, and sulfur in the steam; and mini-volcanoes that emerge spontaneously.
After our volcano experience, and before we started back to the Sea Voyager, we had a barbecue lunch at the ranch located on the foothills of the volcano. And we even closed the day with a salsa dance session. What a day! What an experience!
