Rincon de la Vieja

Robert and I were so happy to be able to go on vacation earlier this month.  (Yea, vaccines!)  We decided to go back to Costa Rica, which we first visited eight years ago.  Back then we visited the interior of the country, including the cloud forest.  This time we went to the beach.  The two areas were quite different, but both times we loved the country and the people.

Our first visit to Costa Rica was a road cycling trip with Backroads.  This time we went to an all-inclusive resort.  We went mountain biking one day as a separate excursion.  Robert arranged the outing through a company called Amstar.  A van picked us up early in the morning.  The driver didn't speak English (embarrassingly, I can't remember his name), but our friendly tour guide Herman did.

We went to Rincon de la Vieja, a national forest that is privately owned.  (Obviously, land laws are different in Costa Rica than in the U.S.)  An activity center offers all kinds of outdoor activities, ranging from hiking to rafting to ziplining.  Amstar had arranged for rental mountain bikes for Robert and me.  Herman had his own mountain bike.

Herman is very familiar with the trails at Rincon de la Vieja, and so we followed him.  We could tell right away that he's a strong rider.  Unfortunately, I found that I was even slower on the mountain bike than I expected.  Fortunately, Herman and Robert didn't mind waiting for me every so often.

The trails are color coded kind of like in skiing: the easiest trails are green, the intermediate trails are blue, and the expert trails are red.  We started on green trail.  The guys got ahead of me and out of sight almost immediately.  I didn't mind, though.  I was excited to be in Costa Rica and riding period.

Wouldn't you know it - only a few miles into the ride, I fell.  Maybe it was the unfamiliar bike, and/or maybe I'm just that uncoordinated.  I've fallen plenty of times while mountain biking, but this time I landed on some kind of thorny plant, hitting the side of my face.  There was a good bit of blood (those kinds of wounds bleed a lot), but all I could do was keep riding until I caught up with Herman and Robert.  It didn't really hurt, and the bleeding stopped.  I didn't want to ruin the outing, and so I insisted we all keep riding.

Herman took us to a waterfall.  The blue water was simply dazzling:

We finished the trail, and then I washed and bandaged the wound at the restroom back at the activity center.  A small plant sticker had lodged itself near my eyebrow, which caused most of the bleeding.  Reassured that I really was OK, I was ready to keep riding.

Next, Herman took us on an expert trail!  It had a good bit of climbing (about 1,300 feet in 10 miles), but I hardly noticed it because I was focusing so intently on navigating the terrain.  It was manageable, but I took it especially carefully after my earlier fall.  There were lots of challenging rocky sections that Robert had to walk, too.  The guys continued waiting patiently for me as needed.

Herman took us to another waterfall.  We had to access this one by walking across a suspended bridge:

What a surprise we had in store!

A half dozen or so people were swimming in the cold water.  We saw dragonflies and a spectacular, bright blue butterfly.  The natural enclosure seemed almost magical.

I thanked Herman for bringing us to such a beautiful spot.

A while later, we stopped for a little refreshment.  Herman had a sweet empanada, which he shared with Robert and me.  It reminded me of Laverne's fried peach pies that I enjoy on my long rides back home.

While we were stopped, Robert and I marveled at the huge mimosa tree we were standing under.  Everything grows so much larger and faster in the tropics.

We saw more amazing trees as we rode farther, including these ficus trees:

Herman told us about the guanacaste tree, which has the same name as the Guanacaste province where we were located.  The tree has curved seed pods, which is why it's also known as the monkey-ear tree:

We were now on the descent.  It was a lot less rocky than the way we had ascended, and so we all agreed that Herman had made the right decision on the direction that he took us.  Even so, I had several reminders that we still were on an expert trail!  This sign says that you have to be a technical badass to ride the next section:

I did a good job of demonstrating this sign.

When we arrived back at the activity center, the three of us and our driver had lunch together at the cafeteria next door.  Then, Herman had the onsite nurse check me.  Robert and I had noticed the old ambulance that morning.  He thought it was hilarious that it turned out to be the infirmary.

The kind nurse cleaned the wound thoroughly and put a fresh bandage on.  With a little translation from Herman, she confirmed that I would be fine.

Even with all the challenges, I had a blast!  Pura Vida!