Two weeks in Costa Rica

We’ve sort of lost track, but this is our 9th or 10th trip to Costa Rica and our only plan for this trip was to visit some less touristy areas and to ensure that it was a restful time after a tiring lawn care season. Not too many activities, not as much driving and moving around from place to place.

With that in mind, we decided to visit three locations in our two-week trip. Our first stop? Zarcero, a small city about two hours north of Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose. Population: 5,000. Elevation: 1700m above sea level. With the higher elevation, the temperatures are cooler year-round but still like a warm summer day back home. 

After arriving in Liberia around 7am (and no wait at customs, which is usually an hour or more!), we picked up our rental car, some breakfast and snacks at Walmart, and got on the road heading east. It’s about a four-hour drive to Zarcero and the last hour or so was especially scenic as we started climbing into the Central Mountain Range area with winding roads and rolling green mountains into San Ramón and Zarcero. We got checked into our Airbnb, a cute little cottage perched on the hillside with fantastic views, got some more groceries, had a very delicious dinner out, and retired early.

The next two days included exploring the town of Zarcero and the surrounding area. The only tourist-type attraction in town is the San Rafael Church and the topiary gardens in front of the church (Evangelista Blanco Brenes Park). While visiting the church and park, we also took in a farmers’ market and practiced our Spanish while purchasing some items. We just missed out on a wedding at the church, but the bride and groom were still there having pictures taken.

We did our best to get lost on the country roads but somehow managed to end up back in town – I guess all roads lead to Zarcero! The area is so beautiful, with fields terraced into the hillsides and dairy cows around every corner with Dos Pinos trucks picking up the milk. It was cool to see fields of “normal” vegetables like carrots, onions, and cabbage, and trucks loaded full with bags of vegetables that we could see the workers harvesting. 

For our final day in the area, we ventured out a bit further towards a nearby national park and an area with a lot of waterfalls (Donna’s fav!). Unsure where to begin, we found ourselves pulling into the parking lot for Catarata del Toro – if the sign was to be believed, it was Costa Rica’s “Ultimate Secret” and so we obviously needed to find out if that was true. At 295 feet, it is the tallest waterfall in Costa Rica and is situated inside a dormant volcano’s crater. Our pictures from the viewpoints don’t do it justice but it was spectacular, definitely worth the visit.

With our entry to Catarata del Toro, we also purchased entry to the nearby Blue Falls, a collection of six waterfalls on a private reserve. Between the time of day and our energy levels, we were able to hike to two of the six, Las Gemelas and Poza Azul, but it would be nice to come back and see all of them. The water in all the falls, streams, and pools is blue due to volcanic minerals in the water and there are many great spots to swim and enjoy the clear blue water. Las Gemelas (“the twins” in Spanish) was actually two waterfalls thirty metres apart, making for a noisy spot! Poza Azul, a little further down the river, was a smaller waterfall area with a large blue pool area for swimming. While we weren’t prepared for swimming, it was nice to dip our feet into the mineral waters before hiking back. The best part was the lack of people, making for a semi-private experience at both Catarata del Toro and Blue Falls, certainly an out-of-the-way stop that supports the “Ultimate Secret” claim!

We really enjoyed our time in the area and look forward to returning some day.