Lisa | Rincon de la Vieja

I'm actually writing this from the cool and comfort of Minnesota, but I want to tell you about our trip to Rincon de la Vieja, one of three active volcanos in Costa Rica.

We took a two-hour shuttle ride northwest of Tamarindo to the base of the volcano.  Mauricio, our driver, was especially helpful and happy to practice Spanish with us.  Or practice with Mimi anyway, I mostly sat and listened.  I feel like I can understand 60% of a slow conversation, but it's really hard for me to put together sentences in Spanish, beyond "I can speak Spanish," which I really can't very well.  But I've learned a lot this week!

We didn't actually go up up the volcano, though you can.  It's a difficult five-mile hike, no thanks!

We got signed in at the base camp, then they put us into safety harnesses.  At this point I was starting to get a little nervous.  I'm not a big fan of heights, though I really like going fast--which it sounds like you do on a zip line.  We walked up the stairs to the first zip line platform and it's really high.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to step off the platform, but the guide solved that by hooking me up to the zip line, checking to make sure it's safe, then giving me a shove.  So high but so fast and fun!  Exhilerating!  But then I realize there's another zip line and I have to do it all over again, yikes!  (This isn't Mimi or me, but I wanted a photo of the zip line anyway.)

There were 21 zip lines in total and I did get used to them.  However, I was NOT ready for the "bungee jump" drop down from the narrow bridge over the river down to the close to ground level.  The guide hooked up your harness and lowered you down to the ground.  The brave people then flipped their feet up, let go of their hands and desceneded head first--CRAZY!!! 

Would you believe that by the time Mimi and I got to the front of the line we both flipped our feet up and went down head first?!??  Here is proof that Mimi went down head first, no hands.  Believe it!

I'm sure my brother and sisters will think I was briefly possessed, but I did it, woo-hoo!!!!!

Next we went white-water rafting down the river below on innertubes.  No photos because no cameras allowed, but this was the best part of the day.  The rapids were rapid only briefly and in short bursts.  Otherwise we were floating slowly down the beautiful river in a perfectly quiet and beautiful canyon carved out of the lava rock long ago.

We had a delicious lunch at the hacienda, then it was time for horseback riding.  Not my favorite activity.  My butt didn't like it much either.

The thing that was funny was the "horse rage" that our horses displayed for us.  My horse insisted on going ahead of Mimi's horse, who was smaller and shorter.  Mimi's horse wasn't too happy about that and kept tailgating my horse, nipping at his tail.  When he saw an opening, he put on a burst of speed and tried to edge ahead of my horse, which my horse wouldn't tolerate.  So my horse would move over to cut off Mimi's horse.  Give it a minute or two, and the horses would do the same thing.  Then they picked up speed and started trot while trying to pass each other, which was even harder on my butt.  Not fun.  But watching the horse rage was amusing.  We stopped at a little waterfall, went for a swim, then repeated the whole thing.

The last activity was the mud bath and hot springs--fantastic!  The mud pools had supposedly dried up until the rains started again, so we were painted with mud rather than swimming in mud pools.  Just like a facial for your whole body, it felt really good.  And I thought it was really funny that while all the guides during the day were Don Juan young guys, the men doing the painting were the old guys.  I was happy about that. :)

We washed off the mud in the showers then stepped into the hot springs pools--ahhhhhh.  So relaxing!  They had pools of different temps, so while I stayed in the cooler pool, Mimi ventured to the hotter pools.  They were hot!  A very beautiful setting, right along the little river and landscaped with natural stone.  I think we could have stayed in those pools for hours and hours.

We headed back to the van and the drive back to Tamarindo while watching the sun set behind the volcano, it was gorgeous.

Overall, a fantastic day.  The innertube rafting was the best part, with the mud bath and hot springs a close second.  I can do without horseback riding ever again, but I must admit the zip line scared the daylights out of me. Never need to do that again, but at least I can check it off my bucket list!

Mimi's turn to blog tomorrow, so she can tell you what an ace surfer she's becoming!