What did we do today?
- Arrived at the Liberia airport at 7am, got our rental car from Vamos, stopped for breakfast and then drove 45 minutes to Rincon de la Vieja
- Hiked Rio Negro Waterfalls and hiked and swam at Oropendola Waterfalls at Hacienda Guachipelin
Accommodation: Hacienda Guachipelin (HG)
Meals: breakfast at Cafe Europa in Liberia and then dinner at Hacienda Guachepilin
We were the first international flight to arrive in Liberia that morning, so it took less than 20 minutes to go through immigration. Our two friends, who had arrived on an afternoon flight a couple of days earlier, spent 2 hours getting through immigration.
We easily met up with our friends at the airport, and the Vamos rep, who took us all to the car rental office just down the road. Twenty minutes later we were driving away with our rental car. We stopped for breakfast at the Cafe Europa and then drove the 45 minutes to Hacienda Guachipelin at Rincon de la Vieja.
Our room wasn't ready when we arrived but HG allowed us to store our bags in a secure area. We grabbed our sunscreen and headed for for Rio Negro waterfalls for a short and easy hike. Later in the afternoon, we drove up to the parking area at Oropendola Waterfalls where we proceeded to walk the easy 15-minute path to the waterfall. We had a refreshing swim at the base of the waterfall.
A word about bugs. The Rincon area is rife with teeny tiny biting flies. I think they call them bocones in Costa Rica. We all got bitten, but I seem to be particularly sensitive to these little devils and developed intensely itchy, ugly, purple bites. Alergical, easily purchased at the Farmacia, was my best best friend for several days.
Reviews
Cafe Europa
Cafe Europa is a convenient place to stop if you are coming or going from the airport. It has a good selection of fresh pastries and pretty decent breakfasts (Warning, don't buy the Pain au Chocolat if you are hoping for flaky buttery goodness.) The service is pleasant but very slow.
Haceienda Guachipelin (HG)
This was our second time staying at HG and we enjoy it here. We had a standard room and found them to be decently sized, with good AC, and comfortable beds. All of the rooms are at ground level and have an outdoor sitting area. The hotel grounds and gardens are well tended with abundant birdlife. They also have a nice swimming pool.
Breakfast is included, and they offer extensive hot and cold selections, buffet-style. We also ate two dinners here. The service is good and the food is decent. Most enjoyable was the open-air setting and watching the birdlife in the large trees adjacent to the restaurant.
Vamos Car Rental
Confirming the car rental was easy and Vamos was very responsive in answering my pre-trip questions. We rented a mid-sized SUV (2019 Suzuki). I saw the car and immediately wanted to upgrade, but no other vehicles were available. It was adequate for the four of us, and fit all of our carry-on luggage, but it was definitely a basic model.
We also rented the Vamos phone, which was an older model Samsung. The Vamos phone often struggled with finding cell service when my own newer model iPhone had no problem. We had hoped to use it for hot-spotting our other phones, but it did not function well that way. The Vamos phone is probably a good deal if you do not want to roam on your own phone and only count on it for WAZE navigation.
Rio Negro Waterfalls (1 of 4 falls on this short hike)
Oropendola Waterfalls
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