Visit to Hacienda Guachipelin and Rincón de la Vieja National 
Park 22 to 25 November 2002.

Although probably the worst writer in the world, here is my tale….
Hacienda Guachipelin is also the location of “The Original Canopy Tour – Kazm Canyon”. Don´t be fooled by the Big blue road sign at the entrance by the highway… It says CANOPY TOUR 10 KM –Straight…. That´s not the one !!!  Instead, turn right immediately after the sign!. (see pic.)

In our case we started from San José & found the turn-off to Hacienda Guachipelin 5 kilometers north of Liberia. Here we turned inland (east) onto a gravel road and drove on for 15 km. Follow the signs for Curubandé.

We arrived at about 4 in the afternoon and having 2 young children with us decided to have a swim in the pool and then on to a change of clothes and off to dinner at 6:30. Wonderful buffet  offering international cuisine…(luckily enough for us the kids fell asleep under the table so we managed to stay a while to enjoy the warm evening and the view of the lights of Liberia, 15Km distant.

On this very windy, clear, 28 degree (Celsius, of course! ), it took us 4 hours to complete the drive to this paradise in the mountains. We found Hacienda Guachipelin without any problems and were checked in by the very friendly staff in what was the original barn building of the hacienda. This also serves as the main lounge area and the bar and pool area are just in the back of it….. From here you have a spectacular view of the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano and National Park area. (see pic).

After this we mounted our (now) trusted stallions and made of for the next place… a river gorge where the river has carved into the red bedrock creating a stretch that looks like a red pool, aptly named the “Poza Roja” or Red pool.. ( see pic). When riding like this, keep a lookout in the trees above you…. You will find monkeys and birds of all sorts and colors !

After a good nights sleep in the simple but very comfortable rooms and we booked our horses at the reception…a 4 hour tour with stops at one waterfall and one mountain river….  After riding through the countryside for 45 minutes we arrived at the waterfall….. This is where two rivers join forming a magical blue hole in which to swim….(see pic).
Being more south-american than Swedish at his stage, I was clearly not expecting these mountain streams to very cold…. Boy, was I surprised when I stuck my foot in it!!  After a minute or so one gets used to it and it ´s really wonderful ! I think I stayed in for 20 minutes or so…. Fantastic place in the middle of the forest around us…

On return to the hacienda we did lunch and waited around for our 1:30 pm Canopy Tour. After a equipment check and safety instruction by Miriam, the tour guide, we did our 5 minute walk over to the beginning of the Canopy…… Having done a few of these of going from tree-top to tree-top I was thrilled to see that this one did not use a single tree !!

We arrived at a 100 foot deep river gorge where the platforms have been set into the rock face itself (see pic) This made for a very thrilling experience !!! We did 10 platforms, one tarzan swing over the gorge (I did it three times, it was so much fun !!), and2 or 3 wall climbs. Fantastic, I wanted to d it all over again when I finished !!.

A must visit for anyone in the area !!

LINK TO HACIENDA GUACHIPELIN

Email: info@guachipelin.com

Tel/Fax Hacienda: (506) 666-8075
San José office:     (506) 442-2818
San José Fax:        (506) 442-1910

On day 3;  we took the car a few kilometers towards the National Park, still within the hacienda, to some volcanic mud pots… actually pools where the action of the volcano below forces gases up and forms bubbling pools where the mud is collected…..we had a full body mud bath and then a hop in the hot-springs to was it off…. They say it knocks off a few years to your appearance, so here I am, 18 again !!! I did not expect the mud to be cold though !!! that was a surprise.

After a quick bite for lunch back at the hacienda ( No, we did not get packed lunches like everyone else…. Now we know better) we headed up to the National Park for a walk around.

The trail we took was 3,5 km and long enough for our 4 ½ year old not to get tired….We saw fumaroles…. A mini volcano….. hot-springs of both water and mud. The water one is shown in the adjacent picture.