An uphill battle

Written 01.13.2009

After our delicious breakfast of corn flakes and coffee, we decided to pack up our water bottles and head out on a hike to the famed La Fortuna Waterfall. I’m not sure where it ranks in terms of biggest or anything, but we had heard it was a cool sight to see and were up for the (seemingly) short 4km jaunt. The great white gringo himself told us that it would take about an hour and a half, and gave us the simple directions to get there. About 100 yards beyond the turnoff for the waterfall, there was a local swimming hole that looked promising, but we had a lot of stuff with us and it’s the kind of place you can’t just leave your things lying around lest you be relieved of them when you look away. It had its own little waterfall, and a fifty-or-so-foot wide swimming area with a rock ledge about twenty feet above - the pool was anywhere from eight to twelve feet deep, and was crystal clear blue - all in all, a pretty cool place. After surveying the area, we backtracked and started up the road towards the waterfall. The total distance, as Pete said, was only about 4k, but what he failed to mention was that it was seventy-five percent uphill. No joke, it was one after another after another, for about an hour. We hadn’t left the hostel until about 10:30, so by the time we’re getting to the steep inclines, we also had the glaring mid-day sun and 95 degree temperature making things interesting. It was brutal. After every hill, I was convinced it would be the last, only to see another rising up to greet us. Anyway - we made it to the park, paid our entrance fee, and started down to see the sights. After a semi-inspiring lookout point from a ways away, we embarked on the 500-step stone staircase that leads you to the base of the waterfall. Precipitous, yes, but cool because it was like being in an Indiana Jones movie, literally in the middle of dense rainforest, with steep rock ledges, decaying trees, gigantic ferns, birds and monkeys calling to each other in far-off trees, the whole works. The waterfall itself was amazing, but what I thought what made the scene was the crazy blue color of the water - sort of a deep aqua and teal. We had some folks from Spain take a picture for us, and after taking one for them, decided to go for a swim. A bit down-river from the tumult of the millions of gallons of water falling hundreds of feet, there was a shaded grove and a small swimming area that was great for a quick dip to cool off. We spent about half an hour or so there, then started the ascent back to the top. The 500 steps down were not as fun going up, and upon reaching the parking lot, it hit me that we had another ninety minute walk in front of us back home. By some stroke of luck, we happened to be flagged down by the picture-taking Spaniards who were nice enough to give us a lift back into town.
Back at the ranch, we took some time to relax, read, make some dinner (a virtual disaster, technically, as I drastically underestimated the time involved in cooking black beans) and eventually went to bed for a well-deserved night sleep - sans mosquitoes this time, which is always a bonus.