beach rest in Santa Clara
We are sitting in our favourite bakery, smelling wonderful tastes, feeling a cool breeze on a sunny day. We are guessing that the temperature is at least 80 degrees
We have just returned from our hikes in the area and have walked back into town.
After fortifying ourselves with a delicious coffee at the bakery this morning, we left around 9.30 a.m. for our hike at Cerro Gaital. We found out about this hike from the young Japanese at the Orchid Gardens we visited yesterday. To get to the beginning of the hike, we took the local bus along an amazing route filled with grand estates. The bus driver and assistant were kind enough to have us sit in the front of the bus/van with the driver. It was very comfortable and very scenic, despite some of the poor conditions of the road.
Ringed by 1000m-tall mountains and surrounded by humid cloud forest, this was truly an amazing hike and a rugged workout. The bus driver van kind enough to let us know that he would be back in two hours, so we had to hike quickly -- what an incentive. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular. From the `viewpoint`we could see towards the town one way and then towards the Pacific ocean the other way.
True to their word, the bus/van returned in two hours. We took the bus down the road to the waterfalls called Chorro El Macho, the most famous waterfall in the El Valle area. It is 85 meters high. Again, a spectacular sight. Below the waterfalls there was a large swimming area made of rocks, surrounded by rainforest and fed by river water. After this short hike, we decided to walk back into town viewing the area.
Hostel in El Valle
Tomorrow we plan to leave El Valle and go unto Santa Clara on the Pacific. That is the plan so far, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.
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