miravalles, Costa Rica

The volcano that Miravalles


The Great View
The Miravalles volcano as seen from Guayabo, at sunset.
Crossing at 2
Young man crosses one of the suspension bridges of the Hacienda Hornillas, followed by one of his dogs.
Goat Mucus Cascade
Young people have fun at the base of the Cabro Muco waterfall, on the slopes of the Miravalles volcano.
Rainbow
Exuberant rainbow at the western foot of the Miravalles volcano.
Don Dimas
Don Dimas in "companionship" with one of his cows.
A lush pasture
Horse grazes in the vicinity of La Fortuna.
Another Sunset
Sun sets over the Pacific Ocean, west of the Miravalles volcano.
Mud Comfort
Two sisters have fun in the Las Hornillas mud bath.
Las Hornillas del Miravalles
The sulphurous fumaroles of Las Hornillas.
Miravalles silhouettes
Silhouettes of exotic trees on the slopes of the Miravalles volcano.
fearless sausage
Sausage crosses Cabro Muco suspension bridge.
Another Sunset 2
Sun about to set in the west of Costa Rica.
Vinício dos Peacocks
Vinício, a young man from Guayabo dedicated to a rural task.
Suspension Bridge – Cabro Muco
Casal enjoys one of the Cabro Muco waterfalls from one of the suspension bridges of the hacienda Las Hornillas.
Pink Volcano
Sunset pinks the scenery around the Miravalles volcano, the highest in the province of Guanacaste.
Seeing the view
Capuchin monkey investigates human visitors.
sunset on a stormy day
Sun is lurking even before setting to the west.
Roots Rock
Guide Vilmar examines one of the most impressive rocks in the area, covered with roots.
waterfall view
Couple enjoys one of the several waterfalls on Mount Cabro Muco.
meadow in the shadow of the volcano
Cebu cows graze at the foot of the Miravalles volcano.
At 2023 meters, the Miravalles stands out in northern Costa Rica, high above a range of pairs that includes La Giganta, Tenório, Espiritu Santo, Santa Maria, Rincón de La Vieja and Orosi. Inactive with respect to eruptions, it feeds a prolific geothermal field that warms the lives of Costa Ricans in its shadow.

Thirty-five days after landing in the capital San José, in midsummer, we were still at the mercy of the capricious weather of the Tica nation.

Successive cold fronts coming from the north of the Caribbean Sea, invaded the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and spread through the highlands of the Central American isthmus. They were retained, and in bad weather the mountains of the Guanacaste mountain range.

Housed in the eastern foothills of the Miravalles volcano, close to the valley that separates it from the neighboring volcano Tenório, we soon got used to seeing the clouds flowing between them and covering the broad summit of the second. Accordingly, the inaugural reconnaissance, we dedicate it to Miravalles and its surroundings.

The road we take from the Agutipaca inn zigzags in a permanent poorly paved drama. After a gradual ascent, it is subject to river depressions and steep slopes that are frightening. Even so, in a bumpy and infernal ups and downs, it finally reaches a panoramic ridge over different slopes.

East, contained by the verdant slope of Tenório. The opposite, extending the entire length of the Miravalles and beyond, to the distant coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Along the way, we passed roadside houses, each with its own land, and farms livestock with open areas, almost always insufficient, of pasture. We meet an elderly peasant at the entrance to an intermediate property. A fork had raised doubts, so his advice would come in handy.

Peasant from the Miravalles area, Costa Rica

Don Dimas in “companionship” with one of his cows.

Once the explanation was achieved, we wound up the conversation. “I am Dimas, like Dimas the Good Thief”, the gentleman informs us, proud of the biblical baptism that he had received, and then he lets out a laugh that surprises a cow at his side, about to give birth.

To the Conquest of Cabro Muco Waterfall

We descend from the ridge that serves as a screen along the Tenório-Miravalles Biological Corridor to the village of La Fortuna. There we find Don Vilmar Villalo, responsible for consolidating the newly created Miravalles National Park and for guiding us on one of the walks that will best reward future visitors.

Once the necessary presentations have been completed, we proceed to the starting point. When we leave La Fortuna, the day is summer. On the slope of the volcano where we find ourselves again, a wind full of gusts sprays us with fine rain blown from far away and from higher up the mountain.

Experienced on that trail, Don Vilmar once again validates the incursion. We followed him and his sturdy wellies through the rainforest and above, along a fast-moving river that the rain upstream made noisier.

Not enough to deter us from a lively chatter about Costa Rica, Portugal, and Italy that the tour guide had recently visited. And, lacking sightings of the resident fauna – monkeys, anteaters, tapirs, sloths, to mention just the most impressive – about cycling, their favorite sport.

Guide, Cuipilapa River, Costa Rica

Guide Vilmar Villala crosses the Cuipilapa river.

With the accumulating of the steps, of tangent, the bad weather quickly falls on us. We crossed the Cuipilapa river three times, through improvised stepping stones that did not prevent us from filling our boots with water.

Almost 5km and a lot of water and mud later, the trail takes us to the base of a steep slope full of large, polished and slippery stones, a ravine furrowed by Cuipilapa which, at a certain point, already under a drizzle, reveals a d' impressive water, both for its volume and the height of which it fell.

Out of nowhere, while we were taking pictures, confused, against the rain, five friends rushed past us, recrossing the overhanging river and ascending to the base of the waterfall.

Cabro Muco waterfall, Miravalles volcano, Costa Rica

Young people have fun at the base of the Cabro Muco waterfall, on the slopes of the Miravalles volcano.

One of them indulges in a quick shower of conquest. The others, to a stream of selfies and supporting photographs.

A Flood Return

At that time, the storm gets worse again. The intensifying of the rain makes us apprehensive about the river crossings of the return.

We complete the photos of the place as best as the flood allows us.

On the way back, we completed it already in amphibious mode, skating along the muddiest trail ever, over puddles and river flow that passed from our ankles to our knees. Still, all without a hitch. Returned to the starting point, we thank Don Vilmar. We say goodbye.

We dried off and went off to one of several lunches of the unavoidable and nutritious “married” tico, made of rice and beans, roasted banana, salad and choice of meat or fish.

That afternoon, we wandered through the leisurely La Fortuna.

We also traveled part of two roads that radiated from the village, through pastures of sabaneras haciendas (read about cowboys) who unveiled other slopes and perspectives of the volcano.

Rainbow, Miravalles volcano, Costa Rica

Exuberant rainbow at the western foot of the Miravalles volcano.

Miravalles: the Volcanic Ceiling of the Province of Guanacaste

In terms of altitude, with its 2023 meters, Miravalles is the highest volcano in the province of Guanacaste. And yet there was only one minor steam eruption recorded in 1946 on its southwest flank.

It lacks an unmistakable, intact crater and the iconic conical shape of Costa Rica's most famous volcanic mountain, its southern neighbor Arenal.

To compensate, the Miravalles creates the largest geothermal field in Costa Rica, operated by ICE, the national electricity supply company Tica. Several competing thermal developments spread along the west side of the volcano also take advantage of it.

The next morning, we were faced with the same weather as the day before. Once again, without a glimpse of the Tenório's summit, we re-examined the domain of Miravalles, still looking for a point of view that would better highlight its altitude and magnificence.

The Smoky and Cozy Domain of Las Hornillas

We enter the thermal baths of Las Hornillas. We enjoyed the bubbling, sulphurous mud pools and vents that gave rise to the Hispanic name of the place.

Las Hornillas, Miravalles volcano, Costa Rica

The sulphurous fumaroles of Las Hornillas.

Crushed from the previous day's walk, we anticipated the thermal experience that had taken us there.

We covered ourselves in therapeutic clay, chatting with Karen and Francini, two sisters engaged in the same hobby. We let the clay act on the skin.

Mud bath in Las Hornillas, Miravalles volcano, Costa RicaWe removed it and moved to the hottest sulfur water tank in the complex. With aching legs and back, that relaxing sprawl at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it felt miraculous.

Ancestral and wide, like so many farms in the region, Las Hornillas also had a river complement near the base of the hill of Cabro Muco where we had started the hike to the waterfall.

We explore it on a trailer pulled by a chapulin - that's what they call the ticos to tractors – by a mixed path of trails and suspension bridges that runs along the riverside property.

Suspension bridge, Miravalles volcano, Costa Rica

Couple enjoys one of the several waterfalls on Mount Cabro Muco.

Returning to Las Hornillas headquarters and thermal spa, we go from the trailer to the car and return to driving along the roads of Miravalles.

Vinício and his Peacock Farm

While walking along the road, we were getting ready to reverse the gear when we came across a young man soap who carried a plastic bottle on his back.

Young Sabanero, Miravalles Volcano, Costa Rica

Vinício, a young man from Guayabo dedicated to a rural task.

We ask you for the best course, but we don't quite know where. With time to spare, the boy, named Vinício Gonzalez, finds us funny and the curiosity we showed for what he was doing. You decide to reveal part of your working life to us.

“Have you seen peacocks around here? Oh already?? Okay. But do you want to see many?” The proposal intrigues us. We follow him.

Vinício takes us to his grandfather's farm. At the back of the villa, it shows us a plot of land enclosed by high fences. And, more bizarre than we might have expected, above these fences, a brotherhood of peacocks, dozens of them parked on balance, intrigued by the surprise visit.

We realized that the end of the afternoon and its prodigious light were flying away. Vinício understands the sudden rush. He gladly accepts it, not least because he was late in the task we made him interrupt.

Miravalles from Guayabo. More imposing than ever

This time, yes. We reverse the gear. Instead of heading to the now familiar La Fortuna, we head for Guayabo, a larger town sprawled across the road, bordered by an assortment of commercial establishments. Its facades, windows and names make us lose focus.

In such a way that, only on the opposite end of the village, we remember to sound out the Miravalles. We were getting ready to cut to La Fortuna when, with the car facing north, we saw it again.

Miravalles volcano, Guayabo, Costa Rica

The Miravalles volcano as seen from Guayabo, at sunset.

From there, the volcano displayed itself as we had never enjoyed it. Conical, prominent high above the ground floor and colorful houses of Guayabo, granting a threshold landing to the clouds that covered the Tenório-Miravalles valley.

Some cumbia played in one of the homes below was the soundtrack of the moment, the gradual yellowing of the mountain, soon, reddened under the increasingly pink coat of the fog and the fumaroles we saw winding, eager for the sky.

This unexpected eruption of textures and tones quickly gave way to the pitch.

Rainy sunset, Miravalles volcano, Costa Rica

Sun is lurking even before setting to the west.

Em so many other active volcanoes, the dark would provide us with Dantesque visions of incandescent lava.

Miravalles has its own ways. Soft and welcoming. that the ticos who live with him.

 

Article written with the support of:

POSADA AGUTIPAC

https://es-la.facebook.com/Agutipaca.costarica

JUMBO CAR COSTA RICA

https://en.jumbocar-costarica.com/?utm_source=got2globe

JUMBOCOSTARICA code = -10% on all bookings, until 31-12-2022

PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Tortuguero: From the Flooded Jungle to the Caribbean Sea

After two days of impasse due to torrential rain, we set out to discover the Tortuguero National Park. Channel after channel, we marvel at the natural richness and exuberance of this Costa Rican fluvial marine ecosystem.
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The Flooded Costa Rica of Tortuguero

The Caribbean Sea and the basins of several rivers bathe the northeast of the Tica nation, one of the wettest and richest areas in flora and fauna in Central America. Named after the green turtles nest in its black sands, Tortuguero stretches inland for 312 km.2 of stunning aquatic jungle.
Big Island, Hawaii

Searching for Rivers of Lava

There are five volcanoes that make the big island of Hawaii grow day by day. Kilauea, the most active on Earth, is constantly releasing lava. Despite this, we live a kind of epic to envision it.
PN Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Costa Rica's Little-Big National Park

The reasons for the under 28 are well known national parks Costa Ricans have become the most popular. The fauna and flora of PN Manuel António proliferate in a tiny and eccentric patch of jungle. As if that wasn't enough, it is limited to four of the best typical beaches.
Mauna Kea, Hawaii

Mauna Kea: the Volcano with an Eye out in Space

The roof of Hawaii was off-limits to natives because it housed benevolent deities. But since 1968, several nations sacrificed the peace of the gods and built the greatest astronomical station on the face of the Earth.
Ijen volcano, Indonesia

The Ijen Volcano Sulphur Slaves

Hundreds of Javanese surrender to the Ijen volcano where they are consumed by poisonous gases and loads that deform their shoulders. Each turn earns them less than €30 but everyone is grateful for their martyrdom.
Tanna, Vanuatu

From where Vanuatu Conquered the Western World

The TV show “Meet the Native” took Tanna's tribal representatives to visit Britain and the USA Visiting their island, we realized why nothing excited them more than returning home.
Husavik a Myvatn, Iceland

Endless Snow on the Island of Fire

When, in mid-May, Iceland already enjoys some sun warmth but the cold and snow persist, the inhabitants give in to an intriguing summer anxiety.
Iceland

The Geothermal Coziness of the Ice Island

Most visitors value Iceland's volcanic scenery for its beauty. Icelanders also draw from them heat and energy crucial to the life they lead to the Arctic gates.
Camiguin, Philippines

An Island of Fire Surrended to Water

With more than twenty cones above 100 meters, the abrupt and lush, Camiguin has the highest concentration of volcanoes of any other of the 7641 islands in the Philippines or on the planet. But, in recent times, not even the fact that one of these volcanoes is active has disturbed the peace of its rural, fishing and, to the delight of outsiders, heavily bathed life.
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Indonesia

The Volcanic Sea of ​​Java

The gigantic Tengger caldera rises 2000m in the heart of a sandy expanse of east Java. From it project the highest mountain of this Indonesian island, the Semeru, and several other volcanoes. From the fertility and clemency of this sublime as well as Dantesque setting, one of the few Hindu communities that resisted the Muslim predominance around, thrives.

Lake Cocibolca, Nicaragua

sea, sweet sea

Indigenous Nicaraguans treated the largest lake in Central America as Cocibolca. On the volcanic island of Ometepe, we realized why the term the Spaniards converted to Mar Dulce made perfect sense.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions
Safari
NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 5th- Ngawal-BragaNepal

Towards the Nepalese Braga

We spent another morning of glorious weather discovering Ngawal. There is a short journey towards Manang, the main town on the way to the zenith of the Annapurna circuit. We stayed for Braga (Braka). The hamlet would soon prove to be one of its most unforgettable places.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Architecture & Design
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
lagoons and fumaroles, volcanoes, PN tongariro, new zealand
Adventure
Tongariro, New Zealand

The Volcanoes of All Discords

In the late XNUMXth century, an indigenous chief ceded the PN Tongariro volcanoes to the British crown. Today, a significant part of the Maori people claim their mountains of fire from European settlers.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Ceremonies and Festivities
Cape Coast, Ghana

The Divine Purification Festival

The story goes that, once, a plague devastated the population of Cape Coast of today Ghana. Only the prayers of the survivors and the cleansing of evil carried out by the gods will have put an end to the scourge. Since then, the natives have returned the blessing of the 77 deities of the traditional Oguaa region with the frenzied Fetu Afahye festival.
Sanahin Cable Car, Armenia
Cities
Alaverdi, Armenia

A Cable Car Called Ensejo

The top of the Debed River Gorge hides the Armenian monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat and terraced Soviet apartment blocks. Its bottom houses the copper mine and smelter that sustains the city. Connecting these two worlds is a providential suspended cabin in which the people of Alaverdi count on traveling in the company of God.
Meal
Markets

A Market Economy

The law of supply and demand dictates their proliferation. Generic or specific, covered or open air, these spaces dedicated to buying, selling and exchanging are expressions of life and financial health.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Culture
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Gyantse, Kumbum temple
Traveling
Lhasa a Go ahead, Tibet

Gyantse, through the Heights of Tibet

The final target is the Tibetan Everest Base Camp. On this first route, starting from Lhasa, we pass by the sacred lake of Yamdrok (4.441m) and the glacier of the Karo gorge (5.020m). In Gyantse, we surrender to the Tibetan-Buddhist splendor of the old citadel.
Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, Mme Moline popinée
Ethnic
LifouLoyalty Islands

The Greatest of the Loyalties

Lifou is the island in the middle of the three that make up the semi-francophone archipelago off New Caledonia. In time, the Kanak natives will decide if they want their paradise independent of the distant metropolis.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Kirkjubour, Streymoy, Faroe Islands
History
Kirkjubour, Streymoy, Faroe Islands

Where the Faroese Christianity Washed Ashore

A mere year into the first millennium, a Viking missionary named Sigmundur Brestisson brought the Christian faith to the Faroe Islands. Kirkjubour became the shelter and episcopal seat of the new religion.
Roça Bombaim, Roça Monte Café, São Tomé island, flag
Islands
Center São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

From Roça to Roça, Towards the Tropical Heart of São Tomé

On the way between Trindade and Santa Clara, we come across the terrifying colonial past of Batepá. Passing through the Bombaim and Monte Café roças, the island's history seems to have been diluted in time and in the chlorophyll atmosphere of the Santomean jungle.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Winter White
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Literature
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Hell's Bend of Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Nature
fish river canyon, Namíbia

The Namibian Guts of Africa

When nothing makes you foreseeable, a vast river ravine burrows the southern end of the Namíbia. At 160km long, 27km wide and, at intervals, 550 meters deep, the Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Africa. And one of the biggest canyons on the face of the Earth.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Lake Manyara, National Park, Ernest Hemingway, Giraffes
Natural Parks
Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania

Hemingway's Favorite Africa

Situated on the western edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smallest but charming and richest in Europe. wild life of Tanzania. In 1933, between hunting and literary discussions, Ernest Hemingway dedicated a month of his troubled life to him. He narrated those adventurous safari days in “The Green Hills of Africa".
Fort Galle, Sri Lanka, Ceylon Legendary Taprobana
UNESCO World Heritage
Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle Fort: A Portuguese and then Dutch (His) story

Camões immortalized Ceylon as an indelible landmark of the Discoveries, where Galle was one of the first fortresses that the Portuguese controlled and yielded. Five centuries passed and Ceylon gave way to Sri Lanka. Galle resists and continues to seduce explorers from the four corners of the Earth.
Heroes Acre Monument, Zimbabwe
Characters
Harare, Zimbabwewe

The Last Rales of Surreal Mugabué

In 2015, Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe said the 91-year-old president would rule until the age of 100 in a special wheelchair. Shortly thereafter, it began to insinuate itself into his succession. But in recent days, the generals have finally precipitated the removal of Robert Mugabe, who has replaced him with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Magnificent Atlantic Days
Beaches
Morro de São Paulo, Brazil

A Divine Seaside of Bahia

Three decades ago, it was just a remote and humble fishing village. Until some post-hippie communities revealed the Morro's retreat to the world and promoted it to a kind of bathing sanctuary.
self-flagellation, passion of christ, philippines
Religion
Marinduque, Philippines

The Philippine Passion of Christ

No nation around is Catholic but many Filipinos are not intimidated. In Holy Week, they surrender to the belief inherited from the Spanish colonists. Self-flagellation becomes a bloody test of faith
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
mini-snorkeling
Society
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
the projectionist
Daily life
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Wildlife
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.
PT EN ES FR DE IT