A Day on the Road

Our plan today was to do some hiking and see a waterfall. While the day didn’t necessarily go as we thought, we did get to do both! The plan was to go to the Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve south of Liberia, about 1.5 hours away. I’d read there was good hiking to waterfalls, and it was free. Amy set the route on her phone, and we were off. Plans changed when the directions wanted us to turn into someone’s driveway–that was the fastest route to the location we set.

We continued on a few km to another turn and found the Llanos del Cortes Waterfalls (Planes of Cortes) instead. This was another place we’d marked, but not where I was hoping we’d go. We paid the entrance fee, followed the tour bus in front of us to the lot. We hiked down to the waterfalls, which were really nice.

I asked one of the guides from that van to take a photo of us. He turned it into a photo session and used the flash the entire time. We got a good photo, even if we are pretty reflective in it.

We enjoyed the view for a while, but as we knew we wanted to hike today, we held off getting into the water. We figured we’d come back for a refreshing dip on our way back.

So, after confirming at the entrance that we could re-enter, we turned right and continued on our adventure. From Google maps, it looked like we could get to the Reserve and hiking area this way. It was a scenic drive–lots of cattle farms.

The road was paved for a km or two, then turned into gravel. It continued to get more interesting. Luckily, we had a 4×4, so we weren’t concerned. Photos don’t do the “road” justice – this was one of the rough areas.

Although it was slow going, we figured we’d hit the cross road soon which led to the Reserve. That is, until we came across this gate. It was closed only with some barbed wire wrapped around the post, but who knows if this is private property or blocking cars from the Reserve. So…we turned around to re-do that wonderful road we just drove down. It was better going back since I at least knew what to expect and that we’d driven down it before.

We never did make it to the Reserve and that one hiking location. Maybe others did turn down that one driveway, and maybe it’s not just a driveway. But, I like to think the drive we had was one many tourists don’t experience. And hey, we never would have pulled over so the ox cart could cross the bridge!

Once we were back on Highway 1, we continued south to Palos Verde National Park. I still had hope that we could get to the Reserve–at least it looked like roads took you there through the park. Of course, we had just gone down another road that supposedly took us there…

We got to the park and found that there were several hikes off the main road through the park. That sounded good to us, so we went to the first one. As soon as we’d gotten out of the car, the mosquitos swarmed. And I mean swarm. A gaggle, plethora, tons! I couldn’t get the bug spray out fast enough. A lot got into the car while we were getting us and the bag out. I actually hiked with the bottle out because those suckers love me on any given day. I am a feast for them.

The trail was 560km of incline, but it was a great view of the plains. And, fewer mosquitos.

We enjoyed the view from La Roca and then hiked back to the car. We were very sweaty, as you can imagine, since it is 90 degrees. Hiking in that humid heat through a blanket of mosquitos sounds more fun that it is. Because of that, and since we’d taken up a lot of time with our backroad adventure, we decided to head back to the waterfall. I’m pretty sure Ben was gonna go there regardless what Amy and I said (he was driving.) =)

Yeah, that was a good call on our part. The water was so refreshing. We swam out as far as they would let you – it is roped off so you can’t get to the falls. Underwater critters like me as much as mosquitos apparently. Whether they were the minnows I saw or something else, I started feeling nibbles. Ben said it was in my head, but after one nibble that felt more like a bite, I chose to take more photos from land.

I sat on the shore and was reading when I saw this critter stop on the rock next to me. I can’t tell if it’s two insects connected together in some recreation or just one very interesting insect. I haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Once refreshed, we headed back for a night in. It was a great day. Even the small amount of sun we got was enough to conk us out early. We’ll probably do the eco park and animal sanctuary near us tomorrow.