Last weekend I took a quick trip with Kate, the new employee here at Unidad, and Elizabeth one of our friends from the monkey project to Ricon de la Vieja, which is one of the seven currently active volcanoes in Costa Rica. It’s name interestingly enough means “The old woman’s corner” which comes from a legend about a girl who became a recluse living on the volcano after her father threw her lover into the volcano’s crater (Gotta love Wikipedia).

The park is only about 30 kilometers outside of Liberia. To get there, Kate and I took an early bus from Bagaces to the town of Guayabo. From Guayabo we were picked up by the owner of the lodge we were staying at. We stayed at “El Riconcito” lodge, a former client of Unidad22. The lodge was really amazing, staffed by some of the nicest people I’ve met here.

Kate and I met Elizabeth there, she had arrived three days previous. Unfortunately weather conditions prevented us from being able to climb the volcano to the summit. High winds and rain make the climb very perilous. We were told that the best month to climb the volcano is April, so if this is your intent try and plan your trip with this in mind. Instead we went on a horse tour around the park where we saw waterfalls, thermal pools, and amazing views.

That night we had dinner while chatting to some of the people working at the lodge. After a few beers and a few rounds of a drinking game that Kate taught us, we decided to go with our new friends from the lodge to a small bar about 10 minutes down the road.

This was probably the coolest part of the trip. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole town was there that night at the bar. It was really neat to see kids as young as 6 and people as old as 80 all hanging out in the same place, drinking, dancing, and just having a good time. We made a lot of friends very quickly, and were never starved for someone to dance with. The boys were very taken by my two Gringa friends while I met a young tica with whom I danced with and spoke to for much of the night. She said my dancing was really good for a first timer, (I took the compliment and neglected to mention I had done it 3/4 times before).

At the end of the night we went back to the lodge and hung out outside for a while talking and joking around under a clear sky. This weekend really solidified the notion I have been developing over the last 7 months that, travelling really is not about seeing the inside of resorts, but getting out into the spots where you really don’t belong. It’s in these places you learn the most about yourself and the world around you.