Costa Rica Day 5

Day 5 can be summed up in just a few words: one of the most strenuous days of my life. Today was spent at Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio. We hiked about 6 miles up and down the side of this volcano, culminating in seeing the Rio Celeste, one of the most beautiful pieces of water I have ever seen in my life. It looks as if the sky has been liquified and poured back to Earth for all of us.

The day started off rough however, as the road was closed so we had to walk from our bus to the park entrance, about 1 KM away. There is only one other road that leads to the entrance of the park; however, this road is only accessible from the Pacific side, and on this day we were on the Caribbean side of the mountains. Once we got to the entrance, the humidity finally began to set it. After our entrance was paid for, and we were warned that the trail would be extremely muddy, we headed off on our way. Almost immediately, most of the group, besides the guide and I, motored off towards our first destination; the waterfall. This is mostly because we got caught up looking for a bird. When we finally caught up with the rest of the group, they were all taking a break before heading down the hundreds of steps towards the waterfall. We quickly made our way down, as everyone knows going down is easier than coming up, where we set our eyes on the smooth-flowing water that makes up the Rio Celeste. We spent a decent amount of time here, taking many pictures, along with getting a lesson on how to take long exposures. The trek up took longer than the trek down, with multiple pauses due to the intense heat and humidity. We then continued along the trail towards the lagoon of blue water, where once again the guide and I fell behind, as we spotted warblers, manakins, and a trogon on the trail. Finally the trail got insanely muddy, with shoes sinking in at every step. We caught up with some of the group at one of the overlooks, before making our way down to the lagoon where we also ate lunch. After lunch we turned around again, and look a slow, leisurely walk back to the entrance.

After we arrived back at the entrance, we walked back to our bus again, past the road work that had closed the road earlier. We then got on the bus and drove down the hill to a little entrance to the river, so that most of the people in our group could go swimming. I chose not to go in the water, and just enjoyed the relaxation of finally being able to sit down. While sitting I was fortunate enough to hear a Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan calling, a new bird to my list at that time. Once again, after this we got on the bus and headed back to the hotel, to enjoy our final evening in La Fortuna. It was a beautiful town, and it was a pleasure to be here the past four days. Hopefully I will be fortunate enough to return again one day.

Happy Birding!

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