Costa Rica, a Beautiful Place

Costa Rica is rich in biodiversity. After leaving Playa Grande I took a short trip up to Rincon de la Vieja. This is a volcano area. Part of the road that leads to the National Park is very white, I asked the taxi driver "Is this white sand?" He told me it was the ash from the volcano! I was amazed at how much ash there was to make the sides and the bottom of the road. There must have been a good size eruption at some point to have that much ash.

The National Park area is beautiful. There are several trails. One of them leads to Las Paillas Waterfall. I didn't have time for that long trail but I took a shorter one that led to Agua Caliente. It said on the sign that the temperature was at least 192 degrees Farenheit.

It was beyond a fence that said no one allowed beyond this point. The wind blew a heap of steam at me and my glasses got all fogged up.

Then I continued the walk and went to a boiling mud pit. The guide there said that when it first started it was very small- maybe the size of your spaghetti pan at home. Now it is quite large- about 10 feet by 9 feet- maybe bigger. The guide says it grows bigger every year. I saw a coati while I was on the trail. I hope you can look that one up and see what they look like. I will post pictures of him tomorrow night. He was very friendly and the people he was sitting by didn't seem a bit concerned.

I had an extra special surprise at my hotel. Outside my room was a towering tree. There up in the tree giving a lovely serenade sat a beautiful toucan. What a perfect ending to a most beautiful trip. Thanks for sharing my adventure. I will continue to add more pictures and narration. There was so much to see and do. Keep reading!