10
Jun

Shockingly Blue, Shockingly Green – Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Posted on June 10th, 2013 :: Posted in Central America, Costa Rica, eco hotel, Hike, Mountains, National Park, River, Volcano, waterfall

After spending more than six months traveling in Costa Rica we can tell you that it takes some doing to feel like you’ve made it off the beaten path. We got that pleasant feeling–plus a shockingly blue river and a shockingly green lodge–when our road trip took us to Tenorio Volcano National Park.

Hiking in Tenorio Volcano National Park

There are only three hiking trails in Tenorio Volcano National Park (US$10 per person) and one of them requires a guide. We were warned that the park’s trails are often a muddy, slippery mess since the place gets around 200 inches (5,000 millimeters) of rain every year. However, when we were in the park big trail improvements were under way, including a much needed set of stairs down the steep slope that leads to the base of the impressive Rio Celeste waterfall.

Rio Celeste waterfall Tenorio National Park Costa Rica

The Rio Celeste Waterfall in Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica is much more easily reached now thanks to a newly improved trail.

Though only one volcano made it into the park’s name, Tenorio Volcano National Park actually encompasses four different volcanic peaks. None of them are climbable unless you’re a researcher, but we didn’t come to see the volcanoes. We came to see what the volcanoes have done to the river.

To reach the river in question we hiked the four mile (six kilometer) round trip Sendero Misterio del Tenorio (Tenorio Mystery Trail) which climbed steadily but gently through the cloud forest. It really was one of the best short day hikes we did in Costa Rica with varied scenery, plenty of peace and quiet and, finally, that shocking blue river.

Rio Celeste Tenorio National Park Costa Rica

This is NOT photoshop: the Rio Celeste, which runs through Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica, really, truly is that blue thanks to a unique cocktail of natural volcanic minerals.

Is the Rio Celeste the most beautiful river in Costa Rica?

The Rio Celeste (sky blue river) achieves a blue like we’ve never seen in any other body of water thanks to sulfur and calcium carbonates from the volcanoes. Picture a white Russian cocktail made with a splash of Blue Curacao (just picture it, don’t drink it…ick) and you’re pretty darn close to the color of the Rio Celeste.

Rio Celeste trail Tenorio Volcano National Park Costa Rica

Karen on part of the trail to (and over) the shockingly blue Rio Celeste in Costa Rica’s Tenorio National Park.

We’ve seen eerily-hued crater lakes before but the color achieved in this river is even more surreal. Look at the Rio Celeste long enough and it does begin to resemble a ribbon of sky down here on earth.

Rio Celeste Tenorio Volcano National Park Costa Rica

The Rio Celeste (Sky Blue River) lives up to its name in Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica.

At one point on the trail we reached a spot where two streams converged turning the water blue. The spot is called Los Tenideros or Borbollones and though it looks like magic, it’s really science that’s at work.

One stream contains sulfur from the volcanoes in the area, the other contains calcium carbonate. When those two streams mix, the substances create a natural reaction which instantaneously transforms the water to a shockingly blue color. It was mesmerizing to watch and we really, really wanted to jump in for a swim in what just might be the most beautiful river in Costa Rica. Sadly, that’s not allowed.

Los Tenideros Borbollones Rio Celeste Tenorio Volcano National Park Costa Rica

One stream containing sulfur meets another containing calcium carbonate and, voila!, instant blue water.

You used to be able to swim in one specific natural hot spring within the park but now there are signs up all over the place making it clear that no one is allowed in the water anywhere in the park, presumably for safety reasons since many of the springs, like the one boiling away, below, are dangerously hot.

Boiling Hot Springs Tenorio Volcano National Park Costa Rica

No swimming allowed: a natural hot spring, heated by nearby volcanoes, boils away in Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica.

Check out Tenorio Volcano National Park highlights, including the incredible mixing of streams to create that shockingly blue water, in our video, below.

Looks are deceiving at Tenorio’s shockingly green eco lodge

We’ve noted before that Costa Rica is bursting with places to stay that call themselves eco or green and we’ve checked into many of them during our road trip through Costa Rica. Some have earned the title (like Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve). Others, not so much.

Joel Marchal, the French creator of Celeste Mountain Lodge (from US$170 double including three gourmet meals a day, though specials and lower walk-in rates are sometimes available), has earned the right to fly the eco flag.

At first glance, Joel’s 18 room, two story lodge looks too modern, too high-concept to be eco as well with stark angles, shots of vivid color (lime green, cobalt blue, tangerine orange) and lots of open-air spaces to make the most of the views. It’s chic but is it eco chic?

Celeste-Mountain-Lodge-Tenorio-Costa-Rica

Eco chic Celeste Mountain Lodge on the doorstep of Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica.

Rooms Celeste Mountain Lodge Tenorio Costa Rica

Eco chic Celeste Mountain Lodge on the doorstep of Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica.

What you can’t see at a glance is that most of the materials used to construct the lodge were recycled or cast off, including an incredible number of old tires that have been given a new life (and kept off the burn pile). It was also built on stilts to limit its foot print and reduce the need to excavate.

Views Celeste Mountain Lodge Tenorio Costa Rica

The open-air dining room and lounge area at Celeste Mountain Lodge near Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica features many smart eco touches, including plastic slip covers filled with fine coconut hull fibers to create comfortable and natural bean-bag style seating.

Inside, almost every clever and chic design element is also green. Fine coconut husk fibers fill clear plastic slip covers to create biodegradable bean bag style seating and ottomans. Bed side lamps are made from old corrugated sheet metal. The boxes they pack a to-go lunch in are made from recycled materials. Meals in the open-air restaurant are served on wooden cutting boards covered in a banana leaf which is simply composted when you’re done eating, eliminating the need to wash dozens of dishes. The hot tub is filled with rain water which is heated using a customized energy-saving gas-fueled system.

The chef at Celeste Mountain Lodge turns out gourmet farm to table meals (included in your rate), served on wooden boards covered with banana leaves to reduce water and soap use in the kitchen.

Restaurant Celeste Mountain Lodge Tenorio Costa Rica

The elegant dining room at Celeste Mountain Lodge is the perfect setting for the lodge’s gourmet food.

Joel also created an innovative process when he built a small network of hiking trails through his cloud-forest-covered property which involves the use of a protective, flexible, durable material laid over the surface of the trail which limits erosion. Officials from Costa Rica’s national park system have considered adopting the process on park trails.

But don’t take our word for it. Shortly after it opened Celeste Mountain Lodge earned five green leaves, the highest level of eco certification that the government’s CST regulating body hands out. Then Joel began to feel constrained by what he felt were one-size-fits-all rules and goals of the CST and he opted out of the program.

His eco efforts, continue, however, with a big emphasis on educating guests and locals, especially children, about green issues. One of the most charming elements of Celeste Mountain Lodge (and the list is long) are the in-room eco messages to save water and turn off lights drawn by local school children.

Celeste Mountain Lodge is sandwiched between Tenorio Volcano National Park and Miravalles Volcano National Park of which the lodge has commanding views.

Tenorio National Park Travel Tip

Though Tenorio National Park is still one of the least visited in Costa Rica, useage has been surging in recent years and we hear that the Costa Rican government is considering a proposal which would invest heavily in Tenorio Volcano National Park to add services and infrastructure–like improved and expanded trails, a camping area (camping is currently prohibited), a welcome center and more–which would mimic US national parks. If it goes well in Tenorio other national parks in Costa Rica could be similarly improved. Stay tuned.

Oh, and don’t be put off by what you might read about the road conditions to Tenorio Volcano National Park. Yes, it’s a rocky, bumpy dirt road but all but the lowest vehicles will do just fine as long as you take it slow. If you’re renting a car in Costa Rica you should always go for the 4X4 option anyway precisely for access to places like this.

There’s a Potoo on my Porch – Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve, Costa Rica

Posted on May 28th, 2013 :: Posted in Accommodation, Adventure, Animals, bird watching, birds, Central America, Costa Rica, eco hotel, Hike, Horseback Riding, Jungle, Mountains, video, zipline

Green travel. Rarely are two words fraught with more potential for disappointment. We spent weeks of our road trip in Costa Rica checking out eco hotels, eco lodges and eco resorts and there were certainly disappointments. Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve was not one of them.

Off to a startling start

When the owner of a pioneering eco lodge and vast preserve in Costa Rica tells you he has a surprise for you the moment you arrive, the mind boggles. Even in our wildest dreams, however, we would never have guessed that Jurgen Stein, co-owner and manager of Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve, was about to point out one of the freakiest and hardest to spot birds in the world mere feet from the porch of our room.

Northern pootoo - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica bird watching

This northern potoo spent all day doing its best impersonation of a tree just a few feet off our porch at Selva Bannaito Eco Lodge & Reserve in Costa Rica.

The northern potoo is a night hunting bird that spends its days pretending to be a tree. Mottled feathers, the ability to hold perfectly still for hours on end and its oddly vertical physique allow it to hide in plain sight.

When we were done gawking at the potoo, Jurgen dropped another whammy: the room we were staying in was one of the first ones built when Selva Bananito opened in 1994. Seventeen years in the hot, damp rain forest environment is like 65 years in kinder climes. However, the breezy, spacious cabin looked polished and pristine.

CabinSelva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

Reclaimed mahogany, lots of light and epic bird watching are hallmark of all of the cabins at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

All of the 11 cabins at the totally solar powered lodge were built using mahogany salvaged from trees left behind by previous logging on parts of the 99,000 acres (40,000 hectares) that make up the preserve. Each log was dragged into place by water buffalo, not destructive tractors.

Hammock - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

You don’t even have to leave your porch hammock to get in some world class bird watching at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica, as Karen demonstrates.

The bathrooms are large and wonderfully tiled and the enormous showers are fitted with low-flow fixtures. The beds are super comfortable and come with mosquito nets (not really necessary) and blankets, which you will be grateful for when the temperature drops at night.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves

None of this would exist–no cabins, no rain forest, no potoo–if Jurgen’s father hadn’t seen the light. Back in the 1970s the German expat began homesteading 2,000 acres (800 hectares). Every year he was issued a logging permit that allowed him to cut down trees on 2/3 of his property. While he cleared some land to plant crops and put up buildings his children, including a very young Jurgen, started talking to him about conserving the land and making money with an eco lodge instead of a chain saw.

Talamanaca Mountains and Cattle pastures at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

The Talamanca Mountains loom behind a cattle pasture on a small portion of the vast tract of land that’s protected as part of Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Their persistence ultimately paid off and the logging permit was never used. Instead, Jurgen’s father decided to forfeit his right to extract millions of dollars worth of mahogany and other trees on the property that go for up to US$25,000 per tree, in favor of conservation in an era where that word was not part of everyday conversation, even in Costa Rica.

The Selva Bananito property now harbors 250 species of tree, hundreds of species of birds and even jaguars. When we were at Selva Bananito the big cat protection and monitoring group Panthera was also there with special scat sniffing dogs doing a survey of jaguars on the property.

View from the dining room - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

The view from the open air dining room at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Just 10% of Selva Bananito’s land is used for the lodge, adventure activities and what’s left of the farming activities. This is particularly good news when you realize that an important watershed, serving thousands in the region, is also on Selva Bananito’s land. Jurgen and his sister, Sofia, have even formed the Limon Watershed Foundation to ensure its protection.

Poachers and illegal logging still threaten the massive Selva Bananito Preserve in Costa Rica.

Every year since 2010 Selva Bananito has earned five green leaves, the highest eco level handed out by the Costa Rican government’s CST green travel rating association. However, Jurgen seems proudest of the many was Selva Bananito surpasses CST requirements like creating and bank rolling local eco education programs, printing their business cards on paper made from banana fiber waste from their plantation and their amazing zero-impact waste water reclamation system.

Our first ever Poop Tour

An 11 cabin lodge and kitchen produces a not insignificant amount of water waste from sinks, showers and toilets. Sure Selva Bananito uses natural chemical-free soap but they also treat all waste water, including water from toilets, using enzymes and a series of hyacinth-covered pools which naturally purifies it.

Jurgen Stein's Poop Tour - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

Jurgen Stein of Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve shows off his all-natural water reclamation system during a Poop Tour.

The simple but effective process was explained to us by Jurgen during what he calls his Poop Tour. It culminated at the last purification pool which holds the end product (sorry). This water is clean enough to drink as Jurgen, who studied acting and theater before turning to tourism and conservation, dramatically demonstrated. The water is so clean that frogs, some of the most environmentally sensitive animals on the planet, have moved into the purifying pools.

In-room entertainment, Selva Bananito style

In addition to the potoo, we were entertained by the antics of nesting woodpeckers, aracari couples darting in and out of holes in a tree trunk to feed their young, neon song birds darting from branch to bush, toucans, tanagers and more all seen just off our porch.

At dusk the brightest and fastest-blinking fireflies we’ve ever seen took over the sky. As they darted around it looked like the illuminated tips of 100 maestro’s wands conducting the day out and the night in. Selva Bananito may be a TV-free zone but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any in-room entertainment.

Swarovski birding scope - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

Karen doing a little pre-breakfast bird watching from the dining room at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Adventures in the Selva Bananito Preserve

More wild entertainment awaited when we headed out into the preserve itself where we were treated to the spectacle of migrating broad shouldered hawks in numbers that literally filled the sky. They formed what looked like a moving black highway high in the sky and we counted more than 200 of them in just one of Eric’s photos.

Raptor Migration Hawks - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

There are literally hundreds of migrating broad shouldered hawks in this photo taken at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Get the full effect of a sky filled with thousands of raptors in our video of broad-winged hawks massing above us at Costa Rica’s Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve. Be sure the volume is up to catch the jungle sounds and the crazy call of the Montezuma oropendola at the very end of this short clip.

Hawks weren’t the only birds in the area. We also saw masked tityras for the first time in the wild, squirrel cuckoos galore, Montezuma’s oropendolas, slaty-tailed trogans and more during an early morning bird watching walk through the property.

Masked Tityra - Reserva Selva Bananito, Costa Rica bird watching

This is the first masked tityra we’ve ever seen in the wild.

Slaty-tailed Trogan - Costa Rica bird watching

A slaty-tailed trogan pair – the male is the more colorful bird on the higher branch.

Motezuma Orapendola - Reserva Selva Bananito, Costa Rica bird watching

A Montezuma oropendola, note the pointy orange beak and flashy yellow tail, prepares to enter its unique nest at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Squirrel Cuckoo - Reserva Selva Bananito, Costa Rica bird watching

A squirrel cukoo, just one of hundreds of species of birds that can be seen at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Tent bat - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

We discovered this tent bat dangling beneath a palm leaf which it had carefully chewed and folded into a tent for protection.

We were too busy to notice any birds when we hopped on the three platform zip line through the secondary rain forest which culminated in a 100 foot (30 meter) rappel down to a creek bed which we followed as we hiked back to the lodge, spotting a hog nose viper along the way. Even more exciting was discovering a tent bat dangling beneath a palm leaf which it had carefully chewed and folded into a tent for protection.

Zip Line - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

Karen zip lining through the rain forest at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Hog Nose Viper - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

This hot nose viper was extremely well-camouflaged just off the trail as we hiked around Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

The best horseback riding in years

You can also explore the Selva Bananito Preserve on horseback. Now, we’re sort of horseback riding snobs. Having owned our own horses for years we can smell a nose-to-tail snoozer from a mile away.

But when Jurgen offered to accompany us on his Adventure Horseback Ride (US$60 per person, four hours, advanced riders only) we mounted up. Over the next few hours we traveled through Selva Bananito’s remaining banana and palm oil plantations, crashed through dense jungle, galloped across sloping fields, powered up and down slippery slopes and splashed through creeks. We even saw a boa constrictor, a first from the saddle.

Boa Constrictor - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

Riding past this boa constrictor was just one of the highlights of an adrenaline-filled horseback adventure at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

At one point we dismounted and walked through a section of jungle that Jurgen calls The Cathedral. The compact area contains massive examples of some of the most impressive trees on the property, including a naturally hollowed out cacha tree and a 130 foot (40 meter) tall mahogany tree which you can climb up assisted by ropes and an ascender then rappel down.

By the time we returned to the lodge the horses were sweaty and ready for a well-earned rest and we were in awe of what has been preserved here.

Jungle Trail - Selva Bananito Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

A jungle trail through the rain forest at Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve in Costa Rica.

Selva Bananito Travel Tip

Selva Bananito Eco Lodge & Preserve is located about 1.5 hours from Cahuita, an hour of that spent navigating the 10 mile (17 kilometer) dirt road that leads to this jungle retreat. A 4X4 is required or Jurgen can arrange to pick you up where the pavement ends in his beefy 4X4 van.

Disappearing Glaciers and Emerging Grizzlies – Glacier National Park, Montana

Posted on May 10th, 2013 :: Posted in Animals, Glacier, grizzly bears, Hike, Mountains, National Park, North America, US National Parks, USA

There are a lot of unique reasons to travel to Glacier National Park, which celebrates its 103rd birthday this year, including international relations, grizzlies and the last of those namesake glaciers.

World’s first International Peace Park

In 1932, Glacier National Park in the US and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada became the world’s first International Peace Park when they joined forces across the international border they share between Montana and British Columbia.

Mountain reflection Swiftcurrent Lake- Glacier National Park

Soaring glacier-sculpted peaks reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park.

Clements Mountain Logan Pass- Glacier National Park

Clements Mountain as seen from Logan Pass, the summit of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Disappearing glaciers

In the mid 19th century there were an estimated 150 active glaciers within the park’s 1,000,000 acre (405,000 hectare) boundaries. Today fewer than 30 active glaciers remain. Some scientists believe they could all be gone by 2020, so don’t just sit there.

Many Glaciers Hotel, a classic wooden lodge inside the park, is a comfortable, atmospheric and enormous place overlooking lovely Swiftcurrent Lake. But why do so many of our national park hotels make us think of The Shining?

Many Glaciers Hotel- Glacier National Park

Many Glaciers Hotel in Glacier National Park where, sadly, there are fewer and fewer glaciers.

Rowboat Swiftcurrent Lake -Glacier National Park

An aptly-named row boat on Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park.

Grinell Mountain Swiftcurrent Lake -Glacier National Park

Grinnell Mountain looming large behind Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park.

Minerals and sediment in the water that melts from the active glaciers that remain in the park still manage to turn the many mountain lakes an eerie milky turquoise color.

Turquoise Grinnell Lake -Glacier National Park

The distinctive milky turquoise color of Grinnell Lake is caused by melt water from Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park.

Grizzlies galore

In 2010, TV animal guy Jack Hanna used pepper spray to fend off a grizzly cub in Glacier National Park while hiking on the Grinnell Glacier trail. Though Hanna says he’s been carrying pepper spray on hikes for nearly two decades, that was the first time he’d ever used it.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2011 17 people were charged by grizzlies in Glacier National Park. We were certainly on the lookout for them when we hiked the popular Grinnel Glacier trail.

Grinnell Glacier trail -Glacier National Park

Karen heading up Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park, an area also frequented by grizzlies.

As the steep trail curved and ascended up, up, up (it was extreme enough to inspire a bit of muscle-memory of our best treks in Nepal), we kept our eyes and ears open and one hand on our pepper spray.

Melting Grinnell Glacier -Glacier National Park

Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park.

You can view a larger version of this panorama of Grinnell Glacier here

Waterfall Grinnell Glacier trail -Glacier National Park

Eric cooling off in cascading glacial melt during our hike up and down the Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park.

It wasn’t until we returned to the Many Glaciers Hotel and flopped down on the big patio that we saw a lone grizzly slowly munching her/his way across a hillside about 300 yards away from us. As happens when the word grizzly gets whispered, a crowd soon gathered.

A grizzly bear searching for food on a hillside very near Many Glaciers Hotel in Glacier National Park.

Sunset color, Ptarmigan WallGlacier National Park

Sunset over Ptarmigan Wall as seen from Many Glaciers Hotel in Glacier National Park.

It’s not a road, it’s an experience

Glacier National Park is also home to one of the most amazingly-engineered and romantically-named roads. The 50 mile (80 kilometer) Going to the Sun Road hugs the mountains, winds through tunnels and tops out at 6,646 foot 2,000 meter) Logan Pass, as it crosses the Continental Divide. It’s all even more spectacular when you realize that it was built, largely by hand, more than 75 years ago.

Sunset view Going to the Sun road -Glacier National Park

Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park is a thrill ride carved out by hand more than 75 years ago.

Waterfall dropping from Logan Pass -Glacier National Park

A waterfall dropping dramatically from Logan Pass is just one of the gorgeous vistas along the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Over the years the Going to the Sun Road has taken a beating from traffic and the harsh weather conditions. It’s now in the midst of a multi-year upgrade which has created closures, delays and some missing pavement, though the park hopes the full length of this spectacular road will be fully open for the busy summer season by June this year. For current road conditions and closures check out these real time road status updates.

Saint Mary Lake as seen from Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Hidden Lakes trail, Logan Pass -Glacier National Park

Hidden Lakes Trail at Logan Pass, the high point of the spectacular Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Flower meadow, Logan Pass -Glacier National Park

Logan Pass in full bloom in Glacier National Park.

Speaking of upgrades, this year park officials announced that their fleet of 33 iconic red buses with 1930s styling on modern chassis, which were last upgraded by Ford in 2002, would remain on the road for those visitors who don’t want to drive the road themselves.