Whilst we have been here in Costa Rica we have done a lot of walking – walking to Heredia, walking to San Rafael, walking to markets and supermarkets, etc. But on Sunday we undertook our biggest walking challenge yet – to walk up a volcano!
View of Volcán Barva from HerediaCosta Rica has 7 active volcanoes plus 60 dormant or extinct ones. Two of these volcanoes are within relatively close proximity to where we live and we can see both of them from our back garden. Volcán Poás (active, about 15 miles away as the crow flies) is a very popular tourist destination and is within easy reach if you have a car as you can drive almost to the top, with only a short walk required. Poás is quite active and had its last major eruption in the 1950s, with more recent explosions in 1989 and 1994. Closer to us – in fact we live on its lower slopes - is Volcán Barva (dormant, about 8 miles away as the crow flies), however this is less visited as if you wish to drive up it, possible in dry season if you have a 4x4, you still have close to a one hour walk to get to the top. For the more adventurous, or fit, or carless (please choose which group you think we fit into best) you need to catch a bus to a very small village which lies about halfway up the Volcano and then walk the rest of the way up. So this is the challenge that we took on yesterday. The good news is that Volcán Barva has not erupted for about 500 years, so we didn’t think there was much chance of us needing to start running back down again.
There are only three buses a day from Heredia to the very small village of Porrosatí (but known as Paso Llano, especially to the bus drivers) and in order to give yourself time to climb the volcano and rest a bit you really need to catch the first bus in the morning (on Sunday this was 6:45am) and then catch the last bus back to Heredia at the end of the afternoon (on Sunday this was 5:20pm). The bus takes about 45 minutes from Heredia. Don’t believe the guide books that say you can get up and down in time to catch the 1pm bus back from Paso Llano – only possible if a) you are superfit and don’t want to rest or b) you hitch a ride on the way up or down or both.
After arriving at Paso Llano, we could see that there were four other brave souls embarking on the same adventure as ourselves – a couple of Costa Rican
hombres who were probably in their early forties and looked well prepared for the hike, and a couple of
muchachos in their early twenties who looked less prepared and we think were not Costa Rican, but visiting from another Latin American country. Throughout the day we would continue to bump into these fellow walkers at different points up and down the volcano.
The bus stops in Paso Llano in front of Chago’s (a bar restaurant). From Paso Llano you follow the road signposted to Sacramento, on the way you pass a couple of restaurants (at one we availed ourselves of the facilities on the way up, and had a meal on the way down), and get glorious views of the Central Valley. To Sacramento it was a walking distance of 2.5 miles and an increase in altitude of around 1100 feet. With the short “comfort stop” this took us about 1 hour and 20 minutes. In Sacramento there is also a nice looking bar/restaurant but we just kept on walking. A couple of minutes later we encountered the hombres having a rest on a shady bank, where they had been joined by a black dog who they had nicknamed Negro.
A view of the Central Valley taken on the way up Barva.
As we walked past, the dog got up and followed us. We could not shake Negro off. From Sacramento it is about another 2 miles with an increase in altitude of about 1350 feet to the ranger station at the entrance to Parque Nacional Baulio Carrillio (Barva Section). This took us about another 1 hour and 20 minutes – with no comfort break this time, just the necessary breaks to get our (read that as “mostly Zoë”) breath back. We enjoyed the company of Negro on the way from Sacramento; he acted like a cheerleader with boundless enthusiasm and energy. He hardly ever barked even when other smaller dogs were yapping at him, although he did seem to having something against cows at which time he would start barking. Perhaps he was just trying to move them off the road for us so that we had a clear path.
Colin with our new friend, Negro, on the way up the volcano.While we were walking up the road we saw lots of people coming past in their 4x4s (and some in rather decrepit non-4x4s). We also saw an open lorry full of people. It probably would have been quite easy to hitch a lift if we had wanted to. As we neared the ranger station a bunch of well-dressed folk (shirts and ties for the men, pretty dresses for the women), who didn’t look like they’d gone up the mountain for a walk in the park, were walking down the hill. Some of them stopped to talk to us, at which point we realised they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. We had seen a small private bus making its way up earlier, and then coming down empty. We think that the driver had dropped the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the top and they were now making their way down, talking to people and giving out magazines as they went. Interestingly, although they were in a group, they were still walking in pairs!
The lorry, the hombres and Negro.To enter the park, as non-residents, we paid $8 each. If you are a resident it costs 1000 colones (about $2). This ensures that Costa Ricans are able to take advantage of their national parks, while ensuring that the tourists who can (generally) afford more make up the money to maintain them. At the ranger station we once again encountered the hombres and muchachos who were having a short rest before making the walk through the park to the lagoon. The hombres set off before us, and Negro decided to go with them once more. The ranger station itself has toilets and drinkable water, very useful after you have hiked from Paso Llano.
There are four paths available to walk in the park. The main path leads to the Barva lagoon. The Cacho Venado runs off and adjacent to this main path, but is narrower and runs deeper through the forest, before returning to join it before the lagoon. There is also the Copey Path which runs to a second lagoon. Finally there is another path which leads to the Mirador (viewpoint) Vara Blanca.
We took the Cacho Venado path on our way to the Barva lagoon. Whilst walking this route you really feel that you are deep in the cloud forest as the tree cover is mostly dense, the path very narrow and at times you had to climb under or over fallen trees. Perhaps because of this it was also very quiet compared to the main path (which at times was very busy with families who had obviously driven up, perhaps this was because it was a Sunday), with very few encounters with other walkers.
Cacho Venado path
Main pathThe final part of main path to Barva lagoon is quite short but also quite steep (about a 300 feet ascent over 0.2 miles) with numerous steps to climb if you want to go to the main observation point overlooking the lagoon. However it was worth it as you get a very good view over the lagoon that has developed in the main crater of this volcano. We also took this opportunity to rest and have our lunch, as did a few others (including the muchachos).
Barva lagoon - taken from the two viewpoints:
above at the highest point and then at the lagoon levelAfter lunch we walked back along the main path before walking along to the Mirador Vara Blanca. This was a very pleasant walk, at times with grass underfoot and we could have been walking in Scotland. This path was also quite quiet and there were not too many people at the lookout. It says in the guidebooks that on a clear day you can see all the way to the Carribean. It wasn’t clear enough on this day, but we did still get a very good view across Vara Blanca to Volcán Poás. Here at the lookout we encountered Negro with the hombres and as we set off back to the ranger station Negro decided to join us again.
Volcán Poás across the Vara Blanca from the viewpoint.After a brief stop at the ranger station we started our journey back down the hill (without Negro, who after meeting them at the ranger station headed off with the hombres). Going down was much easier than coming up but had its own hazards (including slipping on the scree on the unmade road between the ranger station and Sacramento and developing sore toes from your feet continually pointing downhill). We even got offered a lift on the open lorry going back down, but declined as we were determined to walk the whole way down considering we had already done the hard work on the way up. On the way to Sacramento we passed the hombres who had stopped to admire something geological and after a moment of hesitation Negro joined us for the rest of the way down.
Striding along on the way back down.
We stopped for something to eat - a
casado with a nice
chuleta (pork chop) - at the Bar Restaurant La Campesina halfway between Sacramento and Paso Llano. Even after this 45 minute stop Negro was still outside waiting for us when we recommenced our journey.
We eventually arrived back at the bus stop in Paso Llano just before 5pm where the hombres and muchachos were already waiting (unlike us, the muchachos had taken up an offer of a lift down the hill in the back of a truck, and came sailing past us while we still had about 20 minutes left to walk). There were many smiles and much laughter when Negro followed us round the corner too. The bus left at 5:20pm and we left Negro at the bus stop, presumably waiting to accompany and encourage a new group of hikers the next day.
Exhausted but happy, waiting for the bus home.We had walked for almost 15 miles, climbed and descended over 3000 feet to a maximum of around 9500 feet, and it had taken about 9 hours including stops ... but we had done it and we felt good (albeit tired and with sore feet).
Graph of the altitude during the walk;
data exported from Colin's fancy GPS doodad.
The second one is not very scaly at all … a bit of a problem given that the definition of a lizard is "a four-legged reptile with a long body and tail, movable eyelids, and a rough, scaly, or spiny skin" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary). He looks bald and smooth and the wrinkles around his neck make him look like an “old guy”, though he probably isn't. He scurries away from us when we water the back garden.
This third type we encountered on our hike up 
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