Central America

Rincon de la Vieja National Park (translated to ‘Old Woman’s Nook’) is located about 25km from Liberia, which makes the city a great jump off point in the province of Guanacaste. It is still a relatively undiscovered gem of the Costa Rican interior and is one of seven active volcanoes in the country. The park is also part of a World Heritage Site and is home to over 300 species of birds as well as many other animals such as peccaries, monkeys (white-faced and howler), 2-toed sloths, armadillos and jaguars, just to name a few.

Hikers may climb to the crater and have the opportunity to hire guides experienced in wildlife, bird watching, geology and other interests. Several lodges, resorts and hotels in the area offer hiking, forest canopy tours, horseback riding, river-rafting, all-terrain-vehicle riding and wall-climbing.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Buena Vista Lodge, which lies on the outskirts of Rincon de la Vieja, with a couple of friends. The lodge offers 33 cozy rooms with private baths and 4 rooms with shared bath, restaurant, bar, and laundry service. However, being the penny pinching college students that we are, we chose not to stay the night and instead made it a day trip from our home base of Tamarindo, which is about 2-3 hours away. For the most part the ride was smooth until you hit the exit where the road turned to dirt and eventually got really bumpy. We drove at least a good 30 -40 minutes in first gear just trying to make our way up to the lodge. However, the end result was priceless when we saw the beauty of the park.

It was suggested to arrive there at least by 10am so you have the full day to participate in all of the activities on hand. The lodge offered an $80 combo package that included a 420 meter water slide, horseback riding to a natural hot springs spa, a canopy tour and a home style Costa Rican lunch. Otherwise you can pay for activities individually.

We opted for the package and had a blast doing everything. We rode the water slide three times, saw a family of monkeys during our canopy tour and relaxed the in hot springs and warm mud bath. Every staff member went out of their way to make you comfortable and I was so happy that I just could not stop smiling the whole day. All activities stop at 4pm, but you are still free to walk along the various trails to waterfalls and other viewpoints until the sun goes down.

Rincon de la Vieja is a great place for anyone to visit. With its fair share of activities to choose from, comfortable accommodations and friendly staff, you are sure to find something that satisfies your spirit of adventure.

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Looking to add a little more adventure into your travel plans this year? Get some ideas by following this week’s articles from travelers who are sharing amazing trips that included scuba diving, safari taking, and plenty of other activities from all around the world.

If undersea exploration is something you’ve always wanted to do, but never had the chance or thought it was too expensive, consider diving in Honduras. The Bay Islands or Islas de la Bahia of Honduras are considered one of the most affordable places worldwide to learn the ropes of sea diving and get SCUBA certified. In addition, the Bay Islands are a unique historical locale with a blend of cultures that may surprise you. The Caribbean coast of Honduras has a thriving Garifuna population – descendants of Africans brought to the Americas by the Spanish. The Bay Islands, formerly held by the Spanish, British, and Dutch and currently a department of the republic of Honduras, have a distinct flavor from mainland Honduras and even the Caribbean coast of that country. Caribbean-inflected English is widely spoken on the islands, as in Belize.

RealTraveler jflakoll wrote this of their adventure on the Bay Islands:

“Utila is located 50 KM off the coast of Honduras and is one of the three Bay Islands ‘Islas de la Bahia’. Once again we found ourselves in a beautiful, tropical, Caribbean island. And once again the culture changed from Spanish to Jamaican English. Christopher Columbus landed on the Bay Island in 1502 and encountered an Indian population that he thought to be cannibals. These island were also the place where the famous pirate, William Walker, raided Spanish treasure ships. Now the island is the favorite destination of those that seek to explore the vast underwater world. Utila’s claim to fame is that it is the cheapest place in the world to get SCUBA diver certified.

The next day we started our course at the Bay Islands College of Diving. We had a New Zealand instructor named Stephanie and for the next four days we spent the mornings in the classroom and the afternoons practicing SCUBA diving skills in the ocean. The feeling of submerging underwater and taking your first breath is amazing, especially in the crystal clear Caribbean waters. We descended 60 feet down and hovered weightlessly above the colorful reef. The reef was massive, sometimes towering 70 feet above the sandy ocean floor, and we gazed down at the kaleidoscope of colorful fish and coral teeming with other life. In a small hole a green Moray Eel peeked his head out and as we looked further a Barracuda with its sharp gangly teeth swam by.” (…read more)

There are an abundance of hotels, restaurants, and diving companies to make your stay in the Bay Islands everything you desire. The islands offer incredible diving opportunities at prices even a lowly backpacker can afford.

To help plan your trip to the Bay Islands, visit:

Roatan Hotels

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