Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Rincon de la Vieja National Park
on
the way to the volcano:
2
hrs drive will bring us from the coast to the Volcano. And it was
funny today we drove through “San Francisco” - the other day we
drove by Las Vegas and Florida. Google Map says straight: but there
is a gate: so we stop and then get told that we enter private land
and we have to pay 700 Colons per person... and that we don’t get
out of practise we end up at the end on some rough gravel road (or
should we say stone road) and soon after we arrive at the las Pailas
Ranger Station on the dry side of the Volcano: and it is hot!!! - a
good day for a walk right: this was the first time that we got a
number and signed in and also had to sign out, so that they know
everyone made it out ok.
Sendoro
Las Pailas:
with
lots of water we set out – it started out nice in the forest over a
bridge with fresh water and then we enter the dry and open area and
this is what we all saw and discovered:
First
Sulphur gases: we could smell the sulphur but saw only some tiny
little fumes coming out of the coloured ground – the Paul went and
found a tiny little hole where somes fumes came out
- heat and pressure dissolve heavier minerals: temperature and pressure increase with depht. A common mineral dissolved by most geothermal systems is sulphur, which by itself does not smell unpleasant, bacteria convert sulphur to the rotten egg gas smell
Geothermal
power: the huge water cloud in the background: we learned it
comes out where they drilled into the volcano to get the energy –
wow that really shows you how active this is....
- renewable energy makes up 98% in Costa Rica
- rivers, dams and volcanoes allow for a high renewable energy output – as well it is the 4th highest nation in terms of rainfall per capita
- geothermal power is a natural source that provides subterranean heat and power from volcanic energy – Costa Rica has 6 currently active volcanoes. Geothermal energy can be continously generated and is not dependent on weather
- the Pailas geothermal powerplant got established in 2011 and is just outside the Rincon de la Vieja NP
- in 1904 the Italian Scientist Pierro Ginori Conti tested the 1st geothermal power generator and in 1911 the first commercial plant was built in Larderello – Tuscany. Today it is used in 24 countries
- in extreme cases geothermal power plants can cause an earthquake and are expensive to buiilt
Cactus: today we saw some huge
cactus plants.... cactus hanging over trees... and then we went down
a lot of steps (guess later we go them all up again)
Laguna
fumarolica: is like a large unhealthy looking pond – I’m sure
if you go swimming in there your skin is gone – it kind of looks
slimy and crusty. Going on in the heat we saw some amazing looking
yellow flowers.
Pailas
de Agua – water pots: now it gets really cool because in those
greyish mud holes is action: they blubber a lot!!! it is total fun to
watch and by the way the sun here is really hot. And the blubber is
not only something to see you can hear it blubbering. What I didn’t
got is why it got called water pots when it is looking like thick
grey “paint” like staff.
Pailas
de Barrio - mudholes: here we had a smaller and then a huge grey
bubbling hole – It is so funky to watch how it bubbles up – I had
to make a movie so we can later remember the sounds and the
bubbling... sometimes it’s like mini eruptions – there are so
many spots where it blubbers: you could stand forever and watch it
bubble: It lift like a huge half round bubble and then it explodes...
Volcancito:
ok maybe they mean a Mini-vulcono: we ended up at a huge hole and it
smelled like sulphur (really bad) as well it was super hot: when
standing there you got like hot waves of the sulphur fumes coming up
– sometimes it was so bad that you couldn’t even see the rocks
around it anymore.
The
Monkeys: and as we walk there we hear them and there they jump –
I don’t even know how many they were everywhere: flying through the
trees – running along the branches – gliding down the ropes –
lying on the branches – it was a lot of fun watching them
Fumarolas:
already when we approached them we could see the fumes rising
between the trees – it looked amazing against the sunlight and
rising up between the trees– and at the end when looking down you
could see the water boiling and bubbling
More
crazy trees: one looked like a giant hockey stick – then one
was a huge amount of the strangler ficus roots – I mean you can
climb over them – hang around – climb inside – stand or sit in
a swing – oh and also walk inside – some of them are not only
huge but also hollow: and then Paul said no climbing up!!
Cascada:
so we walked to the little waterfall – I mean really that trickle
is not even worth to be called a waterfall.... did I mention that we
also went a lot of steps up and down?
Buttress
roots: on the way back through the forest we saw some huge
gigantic trees with those buttress roots – they are amazing!! Oh
and lets not forget the tree with the spikes: the Silk Floss Tree
It
is active here: And it got me thinking: we walked from one hot
spot to the next and you wonder what is all brewing underneath your
feet? And if there is another big eruption – will only one of
craters erupt or the whole mountain break apart.
The
rumble of the volcano: During we were walking we heard a lot of
time a rumble inside the mountain it was kind of creepy... As where
Paul was first disappointed that we didn’t go to the top – we
clearly saw a lot of volcanic activity. But then when leaving the
park we read the sign “Danger – you are entering an area of high
volcanic risk”
Back
at the car: we needed a cold drink because we were so hot!!!!!
Is
the Rincon de la Vieja still an active volcano?
- The last major eruption was 3500 years ago – but the ranger told us that the main caldera erupted last week and was spewing up smoke onto the Caribbean side
- the Rincon de la Veja Volcano is 600.000 years old and the largest in NW Costa Rica
- overall the Volcano has 9 craters and is 1916 m high, only one of the craters is active one – since the eruption in 2011 the hike to the summit is no longer open: at that eruption the volcanic ash and mud rose over 120 ft from the crater lagoon
- In 2017 two eruptions send lahar: mudflow in the rivers
- and it means “the old woman’s corner” in reference to a legend about a girl whose lover was thrown into the crater by her father, she became a recluse living on the mountain and was credited with powers of healing
- Today we are at the Pailas Ranger station: which is dry side – tomorrow we want to go to the Santa Maria (Caribbean side) which is cooler and wetter
- they use the geothermal energy: the ranger told us that they dug 1 mile deep into the ground and it generates 1/2 of the energy for Costa Rica – we could see the fumes rising up
Google
map doesn’t find our lodge
ok
now we did had a little problem: when entering the name of our lodge
the Rinconcito lodge into google map and it didn’t recognise it –
if we go to our booking confirmation that it tells us that we are
offline... and there are no signs and we drive narrow roads –
through a gate – by a river where some locals swim... so we stop:
data on (good thing we have the Kolbi card) and see there we get the
navigation back up and running. By the way Paul’s suggestion was to
call them and ask them how we can find them and I said and what do I
say when they ask me where we are: on a road somewhere around the
volcano?? Ok maybe the description when the road gets divided by a
tree would work.
Life
in the Riconcito Lodge
but
then we did find it and decide after the drive and the hot walk we
deserve a nice relaxing afternoon: lying around the pool – jumping
in when we are hot or soaking up some sun and then we see another
super cool looking bird – walking around the cool lodge and check
out all the plants. It is a cool place and unbelievable that someone
built something like that in the middle of nowhere. And the owners
are super nice and they have a map for us so that tomorrow we can
check out the Santa Maria part of the NP instead on how we originally
planned to drive to the Mirvalles volcno and the hot springs there.
Guess
we should go to bed early because we want to start the hike when the
park opens..... And
we are becoming real fruit smoothies lovers and that is what we have
with our supper here...
Good
morning Sunshine
the
alarm was set for 7 am – the sun comes up at 5.30 – so well
before the alarm goes off Gine is up – I mean when the sun is
shining on our little balcony – how can you stay in bed – Paul
said easy: only stay in it but then it is so much fun to start the
day early.
we
get spoiled: breakfast buffet vs cereal
so
far we had every morning cereals and if we were lucky with some
fruit... Here we come and have nice buffet: but then we also will
work if off later right!! barely after 7 am we are down and having
coffee, and then check out the buffet, why not have some spicy
chicken and rice with beans? I think that is awesome with some eggs
and sausage.... let’s not forget some fresh fruits.
2025-05-23