Active Pursuits

Exploring Rincon de la Vieja National Park

This national park begins on the flanks of the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano and includes this volcano's active crater. Down lower you'll find an area of geothermal activity similar to that of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Fumaroles, geysers, and hot pools cover this small area, creating a bizarre, otherworldly landscape. In addition to hot springs and mud pots, you can explore waterfalls, a lake, and volcanic craters. The bird-watching here is excellent, and the views across the pasturelands to the Pacific Ocean are stunning.

The main entrance is 25km (16 miles) northeast of Liberia, down a badly rutted dirt road. The park entrance fee is $10 (£5) per person per day, and the park is open daily from 7am to 3pm.

Camping will cost you an extra $2 (£1) per person per day. There are actually two entrances and camping areas here: Santa María and Las Pailas (also called Las Espuelas; tel. 2661-8139) ranger stations. The latter is by far the more popular and accessible, and it's closer to the action. These small camping areas are near each other. I recommend the one closer to the river, although the bathroom and shower facilities are about 90m (295 ft.) away, at the other site. For those seeking a less rugged tour of the park, there are several lodges located around the perimeter of the park; all offer guided hikes and horseback rides into the park.

Getting There -- To reach the Las Pailas (Las Espuelas) entrance, drive about 5km (3 miles) north of Liberia and turn right on the dirt road to the park. The turnoff is well marked. In about 12km (7 1/2 miles), you'll pass through the small village of Curubandé. Continue on this road for another 6km (3 3/4 miles) until you reach the Hacienda Guachipelin. The lodge is private property, and the owners charge vehicles a $2 (£1) toll to pass through their gate and continue on to the park. I'm not sure if this is legal or mandatory, but it's not worth the hassle to protest. Pay the toll, pass through the gate, and continue for another 4km (2 1/2 miles) until you reach the park entrance.

There are two routes to the Santa María entrance. The principal route heads out of the northeastern end of Liberia toward the small village of San Jorge. This route is about 25km (16 miles) long and takes about 45 minutes. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required. Alternatively, you can reach the entrance on a turnoff from the Interamerican Highway at Bagaces. From here, head north through Guayabo, Aguas Claras, and Colonia Blanca. The road is paved up to Colonia Blanca, but again a four-wheel-drive vehicle is required for the final, very rough 10km (6 1/4 miles) of gravel road.

Hiking in the Park -- There are several excellent trails inside the Rincón de la Vieja National Park. More energetic hikers can tackle the 8km (5 miles) up to the summit and explore the several craters and beautiful lakes up here. On a clear day you'll be rewarded with a fabulous view of the plains of Guanacaste and the Pacific Ocean below. The easiest hiking is the gentle Las Pailas loop [ST]. This 3km (1.75-mile) trail is just off the Las Espuelas park entrance and passes by several bubbling mud pots and steaming fumaroles. This trail crosses a river, so you'll have to either take off your shoes or get them wet. The whole loop takes around 2 hours.

My favorite hike here is to the Blue Lake and La Cangrejo Waterfall. This 5km (3-mile) trail passes through several different life zones, including dry forest, transitional moist forest, and open savanna. A variety of birds and mammals are commonly sighted. Pack a lunch; at the end of your 2-hour hike in, you can picnic at the aptly named Blue Lake, where a 30m (98-ft.) waterfall empties into the small pond whose crystal-blue hues are amazing.

Llano de Cortes Waterfall

Located about 25km (16 miles) south of Liberia, the Llano de Cortes Waterfall is a beautiful and wide jungle waterfall with an excellent pool at the base for cooling off and swimming. At roughly 12m (40 ft.) wide, the falls are actually slightly wider than they are tall. This is a great spot for a picnic. The turnoff for the dirt road to the falls is well marked and located about 3km (1 3/4 miles) north of the crossroads for Bagaces. From the turnoff, you must drive a rough dirt road to the parking area and then hike down a short steep trail to the falls. Admission is free.

Back to Africa

Since the landscape is postcard-perfect, especially in the dry season, you shouldn't be too surprised to see antelope, zebra, giraffe, and elands roaming the grassy plains of Guanacaste. Africa Mia (My Africa) (tel. 8357-5555; www.africamia.net) offers safari-style open-jeep tours through its 100-hectare (247-acre) private reserve, which is populated with a wide range of nonnative (predominantly African) species. All of the animals are herbivores, so don't expect to see any lions, hyenas, or cheetahs. Still, the trip does provide some of the sense of being on the Serengeti or some other African plain. The animals have plenty of room to roam. Admission, which is $15 (£7.50) for adults, and $10 (£5) for children 11 and under, includes a 90-minute guided tour. Other more extensive tours are offered, including those that get you closer to the animals. Africa Mia is located just of the Interamerican Highway, 8km (5 miles) south of Liberia. The park is open daily from 8am to 6pm.

Birding

The Río Tempisque Basin, southwest of town, is one of the best places in the country to spot marsh and stream birds by the hundreds. This area is an important breeding ground for gallinules, jacanas, and limpkins, as well as a common habitat for numerous heron and kingfisher species. Several tour operators offer excursions and a wide range of tours in the region from Liberia. Swiss Travel Services (tel. 2282-4898; www.swisstravelcr.com) is the largest and most reliable of the major operators here.

One of the most popular tours is a boat tour down the Bebedero River to Palo Verde National Park, which is south of Cañas and is best known for its migratory bird populations. Some of the best bird-watching requires no more than a little walking around the Biological Station in the park.

Rafting Trips

Leisurely raft trips (with little white water) are offered by Safaris Corobicí (tel./fax 2669-6191; www.nicoya.com), about 40km (25 miles) south of Liberia. It has 2-hour ($37/£18), 3-hour ($45/£22), and half-day ($60/£30) trips that are great for families (children 13 and under are half-price) and bird-watchers. Along the way you may see many of the area's more exotic animal residents: howler monkeys, iguanas, caimans, coatimundis, otters, toucans, parrots, motmots, trogons, and many other species of birds. Aside from your binoculars and camera, a bathing suit and sunscreen are the only things you'll need. Safaris Corobicí is based on the main highway, just before the Restaurant Rincón Corobicí. For a much wetter and wilder ride, the folks at Hacienda Guachipelin offer white-water inner-tube trips on the narrow Río Negro.

One Stop Adventure Shop

Hacienda Guachipelin offers up a range of adventure tour options, including horseback riding, hiking, white-water river inner-tubing, a waterfall canyoning and rappel tour, and a more traditional zip-line canopy tour. The most popular is the hacienda's 1-Day Adventure pass, which allows you to choose as many of the hotel's different tour options as you want and fit them into 1 adventure-packed day. The price for this is $80 (£40), including a buffet lunch. Almost all of the beach hotels and resorts of Guanacaste offer day trips here, or you can book directly with the lodge, including transportation. Be forewarned: During the high season, there's a bit of a cattle-car feel to the whole operation, with busloads of day-trippers coming in from the beach. Also, I have found the inner-tube adventure to be extremely dangerous and somewhat carelessly run, especially during or just after the rainy season.

Hot Springs & Mud Baths

Even if you're not staying at the Hacienda Guachipelin, you can take advantage of the hot spring pools, and hot mud pools at their Simbiosis Spa (tel. 2666-8075; www.simbiosis-spa.com). A $15 (£7.50) entrance fee gets you a stint in a sauna, self-application of the hot volcanic mud, and free run of the pools. Be forewarned: The pools are better described as warm, not hot, mud pools, and mud is the operative word here. A wide range of massages, mud wraps, facials and other treatments are available at very reasonable prices.

Bird's-Eye Viewing

For an alternative means of taking in a massive amount of Costa Rican sightseeing in a short period of time, Nature Air (tel. 800/235-9272 in the U.S. and Canada or 2299-6000; www.natureair.com) offers a 1-hour Sky Tour sightseeing excursion leaving from Liberia, in one of its 18-seat twin-engine planes equipped with large picture windows along the length of both sides of the fuselage. The exact route is flexible and might change according to group dynamics and weather conditions, but you can usually count on an overflight of several volcanoes -- Arenal, Tenorio, Miravalles, and Rincon de la Vieja -- and/or such prominent landmarks as Lake Arenal, Santa Elena National Park, and the Tempisque river basin. The cost is $200 (£100) per person, with an eight-person minimum. Departures can be arranged to suit the group needs.