Day 116 - Last hike, last camp, on to the beach!

March 11 - Rincon de la Vieja and Playa Coco, Costa Rica

The next morning we packed up our tent for the last time, laced up our hiking shoes for the last time, and fueled up with a nice breakfast from our Dutch host.

A girl from New Zealand that we had met in one of the tent houses was headed to the National Park as well, so we gave her a ride there.  The road to Rincon de la Vieja is on private land, so you have to pay a guy before you continue on.  We arrived at the parking area and were reminded that Costa Rica takes their parks seriously, from the entrance fee to the cement building and information center.  

We were reviewing the map, plotting our route, when a guide came over and pointed to the three hikes.  He explained two of them.  When I asked him about the third, he said no one really does that one because it's uphill, and hot.  Evan thanked him and was quickly off.  "Where should we go?" I asked.  Of course Evan wanted to do the third one... He likes empty trail and a challenge.  Plus, it was called "Cascada Escondida", Hidden Waterfall, full of intrigue.

As we headed out, we passed this display of dead snakes.... If they wanted to instill fear, it worked!!

The trail started  covered in trees, with plenty of shade, lizards scampering off the trail as we walked.  Then we took the turn towards Cascada Escondida and the trees disappeared. It was dry and hot! 


The Dutch man had told us about a spot to check out on the way to the waterfall.  The photo below shows Evan looking over a 70 foot drop! 

It is tough to fathom, but here is a photo looking down.  Insane!

We were slightly overheated by this point, so I waded in, while Evan stripped down and climbed into the pool of water above the drop.

We continued on to the main attraction.  We were the only ones there.

We felt refreshed and the way down was much easier - the trail was perfect for trail running.  The photo below shows how dry it was.

From there, we drove on to Playa Coco and met up with Michaela and Sheila. We grabbed lunch and an acai bowl to share.

We drove to the local favorite, Playa Panama, for sunset.  It was much less populated and touristy.

We grabbed dinner at a Mediterranean seafood restaurant near our airbnb and everything was delicious!  Fresh fish, octopus risotto, grilled veggies.  We rested up for the next day, the last full day of our trip.