Once we turn away from the busy road that connects the Caribbean coast to the centre of the country, we find ourselves in a mountainous region again, with slightly lower temperatures. In the late afternoon we arrive at the Finca that will be our last hotel. The road that leads up to it is the most exciting we’ve done so far: steep and full of stones. We are greeted by Rosi, who is supporting her kids in managing the hotel.
She welcomes us like family and offers us coffee, which we happily accept. The sun starts to go down soon after we arrive and we are lucky to witness probably the best sunset of our trip. The Orosí valley is bathed in pink sunlight, the Turrialba volcano is spitting ashes, and to top it all up, a perfect rainbow is painted into the sky. What a magical place. We enjoy Rosi’s home cooked food for dinner and call it an early night, as usual. We head to the Tapanti national park the next morning, a place known for tapirs – who, however, generally don’t show themselves to visitors. Rosi’s son Roger had shown us pictures of tapirs from a camera installed in the jungle, right behind the Finca. Tapanti is one of the less visited parks in the countries, despite boasting a beautiful waterfall and river and trails of different difficulties. Spoiler alert, we don’t see a tapir. We still enjoy the short hike very much; as there are far less visitors here, trails are kept more natural. Besides a few bridges and stairs, there are no wooden or concrete trails. We do the easy and the moderate trail and decide to leave it at that.
After a quick snack for lunch, we want to check out some thermal hot springs at a hotel recommended by our hosts. We find ourselves in what seems like a large hotel village built around a small river and waterfall. We follow the map to a waterfall, but brrrrrr the water is ice cold. We opt for the hot tub instead, what a setting! We chill in the water warmed by the volcano, with butterflies dancing around us, the river flowing by and birds chirping.
We could probably stay here all day, but still also want to give the bigger pool a try. It is just as warm as the hot tub and you can even see the boiling hot water arriving straight from the volcano. While the big swimming pool could have been integrated in the natural setting a bit better and be decorated nicer (the plastic chairs don’t go very nicely with the overall elegant flair), Hotel Rio Las Perlas is very beautiful in general – definitely a good option to stay in the area if you enjoy the hot springs.
We make our way up the adventurous path to the finca one last time and enjoy another of Rosi’s home cooked dinners.
On our last morning, we just want to go for a little walk, but somehow end up in a little adventure. Roger invites us to join a horseback riding tour with a family that came on a day trip from San Jose, but having not sat on a horse for decades and having a 10h flight ahead of us, we decline (a sore back on a plane doesn’t sound like fun). We start the walk and encounter the horses on the way, the family has fun bringing the cows back to their stables. We walk with them, enjoying amazing views of the Orosi valley and the Tapanti park. The trails are muddy – much easier on a horse than walking! On the way down, when the family gets off the horse, Roger points us to a trail that leads back to the Finca. With our shoes already muddy, we are ready for a final adventure; little do we know that this would be the most challenging walk of our trip. Roger jokingly says that he would come look for us if we’re not back in two hours. We walk through more muddy fields and at some point realise that we lost the trail. When we find it, it leads us deep into the forest, steep and slippery trails. We are reassured by the now clearly marked trail, but a little unsure as to how far we are away. After a while, our phone indicates that we are close but which path to take? We call Roger who comes to save us within less than 5 minutes. We were very close indeed. Rosi welcomes us with a huge blackberry batido and helps us clean our shoes. This last hike definitely makes for a memorable end to this trip.
Soon after, we are on our way to the airport, with heavy hearts, sad to leave the country and this last place in particular.
We hope to see you soon, Costa Rica.
Accommodation : Finca Agropecuaria Queveri, highly recommended
+ Very personalised experience, run by a brother and sister and their mother; the setting is unbeatable with a view on the Orosi valley. This was definitely the most remote place we stayed at, but maybe the most beautiful setting. Delicious homemade food (breakfast $8, lunch or dinner $13 – inform them about your dietary restrictions); comfortable bed and good bathroom, we had a lovely little terrace as well. Orosi town is about 20 minutes away (15 minutes of the drive are basically just up or down the dust road to the finca) and Tapanti national park about 30 minutes. Both Irazu and Turrialba volcano are are short drive away, but we didn’t go there. You can also hike straight from the hotel and activities such as horseback riding can be organised by the owners.
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