Advertisement
Published: December 28th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Baby Sloth
He was smiling at Edward! Hola Everyone!
Hope everyone has had a good couple of days post holidays. Of course we have been having more fun.
On Saturday, we went to Ecocentro Danaus. It’s a small wildlife center with a hiking trail. It was not far from town - only 3km so we decided to walk there. The walk wasn´t long, but it was alongside a busy road, so unfortunately it wasn´t super pleasant - but we made the most of it. It was good to be out moving about in the nice warm sun. We got a map, and volunteer from the center explained what we might see, and started the walk with us. We were very fortunate, as there was a baby sloth there-and it was the one day a week the sloth comes down from the tree, to go to the bathroom. The sloth was hanging on a low branch (having finished his business) and we were able to get right up next to him!!!! It was the best experience 😊 we were so close, we were able to touch the fur on his back. We also were able to see lizard, frog, birds and these strange rodents like creatures. It was
Baby Sloth
Posing and smiling. a nice morning. We spent the afternoon practicing our Spanish lessons. We also have decided to modify our itinerary and take a week of Spanish lessons in the Central Valley. We picked out a couple of Spanish schools, and are waiting to hear if our first choice is available in January - keep your fingers crossed for us. Our hotel had a live band in the evening - but we opted to hit the hay early, in preparation for our hike to Cerro Chato.
Cerro Chato is an inactive volcano rising about 1100 meters, with a crater lake at the top. It is possible to hike up to the top and the lake, so we decided to tackle it. It’s basically 3km UPHILL the entire way -- if you can picture a Stairmaster made out of mud, and roots, at a steep incline - then you have the picture. 3km doesn´t sound like much - but uphill, it’s like a marathon. We started at about 8:30 - it took about an hour of hiking up hill through farmland which wasn´t so bad - more lush green hills, past cow pastures and great views above the town of Fortuna. Once
Baby Sloth
Hanging out! we hit the rainforest - the climb really began. I can say that I never sweat so much in my life-I was drenched-literally able to wring out my shirt and the small towel I brought with me. After about an hour and ten minutes of non stop climbing through the forest and clouds (we were up in the mist and clouds with a light rain) we made it to the top!! A truly great feeling. Edward was very patient with me and really kept me going when i wanted to keel over. It was a beautiful climb - through the moss covered trees and because we went early, there weren´t many others on the trail. We started to continue on the additional 30 minutes to the lake, but the trail was very steep with very big tiered levels - and we weren´t sure we would be able to get back up, so we decided to just enjoy that we made it to the top. Happily, the trek down was not nearly as tough. I must say I feel like a real traveler now - as my pants and shoes are covered with mud.
Once we got to the bottom
of the trail, we continued on to the Catarata (waterfalls) de la Fortuna-this was a short, steep climb down through a sheer canyon made of volcanic rock. its a well maintained almost vertical trail with stairs. The falls are beautiful - about 70meters and you can swim in the clear waters. It wasn´t so hot - so we opted to take off our shoes and cool our feet in the waters and have a snack and rest for a bit before making the climb back out.
After getting back to town - it was all about a couple of icy cold beers, much deserved. Tomorrow - we are going to hit the hot springs. Because of the volcano - there are many hot spring resorts to pick from. They are resorts with multiple pools fed by the springs, at varying temperatures. We are able to get day passes, so we plan on lounging all day and soaking our tired muscles.
Til the next time - hope you enjoy the pictures!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.041s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0176s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb