Tarbaca Family Visits Rio Celeste

My host family from Tarbaca (Jacky, Stephannie, and Melannie) that I lived with for 3 months came to visit me in Bijagua. It was so great of them to drive 5 hours to spend a week of their 2-week school vacation with me. They stayed here with my current host family and me since they had hit it off so well when Jacky dropped me off the first time. It was so nice to catch up with Jacky and spend time with the girls. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I got to see them again.

We went to Rio Celeste while they were here. Rio Celeste! I can finally answer ‘si’ when everyone asks me if I have been. It is the most famous attraction in the area for good reason. It is called Rio Celeste for the color of river that is an amazing blue due to some chemicals in the water. But on the 7km roundtrip trail, there is a lot more than just the famous waterfall.

First we made it to Mirador. It was beautiful to be able to see the whole range of peaks of Tenorio Volcano, up to 1916m. Then when we arrived at Laguna Azul, we were just about screaming with excitement with our first glimpses of the celest waters. We next visited Teñideros (the Stainers) where the different waters meet up and the celest color (due apparently to colloidal silica) begins. It was impressive to see how there is such a defined line where the color changes. Then we finally arrived at the hot springs. It was very different from the springs in La Fortuna. It was in the middle of the cold celest river, with just a little area set aside from the rest. There were various areas that would get really hot, with the cold water mixing it up – so nice. The smell was so odd, and it made you wonder if the combination of interesting minerals was a good thing or bad thing. But it sure felt great, and we all felt more relaxed as we started the walk back.

But still the walk back was not quite as easy going. The girls really started to get tired and Melannie kept on saying that she wanted to leave now, even though there were still a few km before the exit. But then we got back to the entrance to the waterfall, which we had saved for last. It was only 150m but very steep grade with really tall steps. The trail got a bit much for Jacky to handle with the girls so I left them about halfway to go the rest of the way. And what a beautiful sight! It was amazing to finally see live what I had seen so many times in pictures – which, as expected, just cannot really relate the beauty that you can only fully appreciate by seeing it for yourself. It was completely breathtaking. The waterfall is about 30m high (about 90ft) and it pummels down into the lagoon that is blue as ice. I tried to make sure that I got some good pictures, knowing full well that they would do it no justice.