Day 7 ( In Which We Take All of the Lessons That We Learned in the Previous Week and Have a Grand Day Out).

Day 7 ( In Which We Take All of the Lessons That We Learned in the Previous Week and Have a Grand Day Out).

Since we started planning this trip months ago, Nancy declared that our last day was to be spent lounging by the pool, relaxing, and preparing for the return trip home, but when she got up that morning, she decided that there would be time enough to rest when we got home. We were going to check out Rincon de la Vieja volcano National Park.

We had been hesitant to venture out so far on our own since we knew that we would have to return to Liberia, and in all likelihood spend a good deal of time on unmarked dirt roads.

We drove for an hour on the Pan American highway towards Nicaragua and missed the dirt road exit to the national park. We wrongly assumed that since it was one of the largest tourist draws in the area that it would be clearly marked.

We drove for about an hour on a two lane dirt road through the country side and up the mountain, sometimes going 20 minutes at a time without seeing another car or house. (Had we tried this earlier in the week, we would have been fighting since we both would just naturally assume that we were lost.) I took the potholes slowly and carefully like Carlos would have. About 40 minutes up the mountain, we hit a traffic jam.

Part of the road to the National Park goes through private property. A while back, a toll keeper with a gate appeared at the border of the private property and started collecting 700 colones per head for anyone coming in. No one seems to know if his toll is legal or not, but I wasn’t going to argue. The line to pay the gatekeeper was about 12 cars long.

Another 15 minutes past the gatekeeper, we came to a small hotel with a gift shop, (no penis shaped bottle openers….I looked.) and an adventure tours desk offering tubing, zip lining, ATVs, horseback riding etc. There were busloads of American tourists everywhere. It did not seem like a National Park, so we kept driving another 10 minutes. We came to a sign that said “Safe Parking for Rincon De La Vieja” and so we pulled in and parked. I walked up to the building which also did not look like a National Park office and a bored teen sitting at the counter playing with his Iphone told me that the National Park was still further up the road.

We pulled into the nearly empty parking lot (I guess most out of towners never made it past the zip lines.) for the national park and checked in at the Ranger’s station. The trail we were taking was 3km (a little over a mile and a half) and was marked “High Difficulty”. There were signs urging us not to feed the coatis. (We never saw any, it was to early in the season, but I like the fact that the coati density in this park is such that it requires numerous signs to remind curb snack sharing with them.)

The first part of the trail led us through thick jungle. There were giant banyan trees that looked like they were out of a science fiction movie. Long lines of leaf cutter ants would cross the trails. We had to climb steep ravine walls using roots and rocks as foot steps. At one point, it seemed like the trail ended because a tree had fallen across the trail. We back tracked, found a way around and saw that the tree had carved notches in it and was now a bridge over a creak. Several times we crossed creeks one at a time on slippery rocks holding onto ropes for balance. Isaac loved the physical challenge of climbing and exploring but did not care for the thick mud which we occasionally had to muck through.

Isaac insisted on leading the expedition with Nancy behind and I brought up the rear. At one point a large black bird swooped through the trees and landed on a tree behind me. I maneuvered myself to get a better look and saw two toucans in the canopy; their enormous, brightly colored bills were unmistakable and impressive in a way that pictures don’t do justice..

Isaac spotted numerous lizards and another agouti.

About half way through the trail we came to a waterfall where we rested and explored. The second half of the trail took us through a starkly different environment, the volcanic mud pots and geysers. The trees gave way to low brush and brightly colored rocks. Every few 100 meters we would come to another geological vent spewing mud, steam, geysers and always the overwhelming smell of sulphur.

On the way to the park we saw where the Costa Rican’s were trying to tap this geothermal energy to make electricity while still maintaining the natural beauty.

By the end of the hike we were exhausted and stopped back at the ziplining place since it also had the one restaurant in the area. Isaac filled up on watermelon while Nancy and I watched the caballeros heard horses down the street out front.

On the trip back down the mountain, we got stuck in another traffic jam. Several hundred head of cattle meandering the other way down the street completely surrounded our car. It was a surreal moment to be completely surrounded by giant slobbering cows while safely in our air-conditioned rental Kia.

A little further down the road, we slowed down in a small village where a construction crew was working on the road. I had noticed several people staring at our car, as we drove through town, but now the entire road crew had stopped work and were pointing at the front of the car.

I felt sick, sure that we were a victim of the punctured tire scam, but if I was going to be robbed, it was going to be in full view of the village at least. I asked the workmen what was wrong and they replied in Spanish. I pulled on to the shoulder and walked around the front of the car where I saw a plastic frame of the car hanging down almost to the ground. I panicked a little and considered just ripping the plastic off. Before I could tell Nancy what was wrong, one of the construction crew was on his belly in front of our car snapping the piece back into place.

I thanked him and we returned home.

Isaac and I swam while Nancy packed. (I know this sounds bad, but it works out better for everyone this way.) While we were swimming, someone stole Isaac and my towels. I did not know this would matter until the next day.

Rincon De LaViaje was hand’s down our favorite day of the vacation.

Strength and Honor,
Big Matt