Waterfall Swim

We had a lot of driving yesterday but a super fun activity! Our drive from La Fortuna to Tamarindo was about 4 hours, but we found a driver who was willing to take us to a waterfall on the way. I had planned for us to go to the Rio Celeste Waterfall. I’ve been there before and it’s really pretty, but our guide suggested that we go to the Leona Waterfall where you can swim. I’m so glad we took that option! It was one of the most fun things I’ve done here. There were two different waterfalls and the hike in to see them was beautiful. We did a little bit of rock climbing and caving on the way. We saw some vampire bats and some fruit and insect bats. Our driver was awesome! He’s a young guy building a tourist transportation business. He took his phone on the waterfall hike and took some great pictures for us.

The water was spectacular. It must be part of Rio Celeste because it has the same blue color because of the metal (mostly aluminum) and minerals in the water. There are no fish or invertebrates living in the water because of the metal, but the water is clear and ultra blue in places. We came to a couple of small waterfalls first, then we got to do a cliff jump. I’ve wanted to do one of those but haven’t’ had the opportunity. This one was perfect. It was high enough that it felt like a long fall, but not high enough to be dangerous. The bolder I jumped off of seemed much higher when I got to the top than it did when I was looking at it from the ground. I would have done a second jump but our guide as already leaving for the next location.

After boulder jumping, we hiked a little further, then swam into the main waterfall area. The whole trip was stunningly beautiful and not too crowded. We met a couple from NY that was doing the hike without a guide. I asked if they came a lot and and that’s how they got to go alone. It turns out that the guy had done a waterfall hike in the area a few years ago. He thought it was this one but realized half way through that it wasn’t, so they were on their own to find their way through the trails. It’s wasn’t too hard and there were other groups coming and going, but he seemed relieved to have found the waterfall and hopefully they found their way out okay.

I was wiped out and headachy by the time we go to Tamarindo yesterday afternoon. Tamarindo is much larger and more crowded than I had expected. I had expected it to be more like La Fortuna or Samara, which are smaller, quieter cities. There are bars everywhere and the beach was really crowded last night when we walked down. I’m on the fence about whether I will like it here, but I didn’t feel great when I was trying to evaluate it last night and that made everything seem worse. I’ll have a better idea about it in a day or so. We are planning to wander around town today and find a good way to the beach. There are lots of shops here so I can probably find a coffee cup to bring home. I’m hoping to find a good bakery. I was craving a brownie or some good chocolate last night. We didn’t find anything but I’m sure there are some good chocolate shops somewhere.

It’s Saturday so the beach is probably packed today but it may be better during the week. There are other beaches in the area that might be quieter so things should be okay. Bill and I have had a lot of activity and sun for the last few days. We are both burned so we may use this as a more leisurely day by the pool and out of the direct sun. I have a book to read. We like our hotel. It smells mildly like weed but most places smell mildly like weed these days. Even our waterfall hike smelled mildly like weed yesterday and that was a big, forested space. I suppose there could have been a skunk in the area, but probably not. Our apartment is really nice and quiet. The pool area is also quiet for now and shaded. I’m currently camped out on some big bean bags beside the pool. They have a place where I can get all the tea I want any time so if I can find some chocolate and baked goods, things can’t be that bad.