Rio Celeste the Sky Blue River

 

February 17, 2022

    Today was a magical day. We visited the Rio Celeste a river of intense turquoise blue-colored water.

  The legend told by locals is that Rio Celeste got its stunning turquoise color when God dipped his paintbrush in the river as he was painting the sky.

   Scientifically speaking, this unique and distinctive turquoise color is due to a physical phenomenon known as Mie scattering. The two separate clear water rivers, the Buenavista River and the Sour Creek converge to create the Rio Celeste. The Buenavista River contains the mineral, aluminosilicate, and as its name suggests, is comprised of silicon and aluminum. Also as its name suggests, Sour Creek has a high level of acidity which is due to volcanic activity. When the two rivers merge, there is a dramatic drop in the ph level, and the aluminosilicate particles aggregate and expand to a larger diameter.  The suspended particles create the Mie scattering and this produces the distinctive turquoise color of the Rio Celeste.

   Rio Celeste with its famed Celeste Waterfall is located in the Tenorio Volcano National Park. This tropical rainforest is home to a plethora of birds, mammals, and also reptiles. But perhaps it is best known for having the greatest concentration of Tapirs anywhere in Costa Rica. 

A tapir is a mammal that resembles a large pig with a short prehensile nose. Tapirs are actually related to hippos and rhinos. They can weigh between 300-700  pounds! The four toes on their front feet and three toes on their hind feet leave very distinctive tracks. We saw numerous fresh tracks in the mud, so we knew they were close. The image of the tapir is part of the Tenorio Volcano National Park logo. Our guide Pedro led the way down the tail.

Pedro shared with us that Costa Rica is known for its incredible biodiversity, micro-climates, ecological zones, and habitats. Here at the Tenorio Volcano National Park, it is especially so because the park lies not only between two main volcanoes but also the Continental Divide!  The Continental Divide follows the slopes of Volcano Miravelles down to the southeast to a point where Tenorio volcano starts rising which is actually in front of the Tenorio Lodge. One won't notice it for the valley is quite broad here but the dip in the Continental Divide is this mountain pass from the Caribbean Sea slope on one side to the Pacific Ocean on the other.

After Pedro's explanation of this area's unique geology, flora and fauna we soon passed numerous hot springs created by the underground volcanos.

   It had been an overcast morning, about 75 degrees F  when we arrived at the national park around 8 am. Soon the sun broke through the clouds and when the sunlight hit the water, it transformed the color into an incredible, magical shade of blue! 

Throughout our hike, we were surrounded by beauty.

There were a few bridges to cross.

It was hard to cross the bridges for we kept wanting to stop and look down at the sky-colored water.

 

     There are 150 very steep steps down to the Rio Celeste waterfall. As we were heading down, we heard its thunderous roar.                          

    Then we saw the 60-foot powerful cascade of a celestial blue waterfall and it was stunning!

Below, you can see some of the stairs leading down at the bottom of the next photo.

Here is where the steps stopped. Nature is astoundingly beautiful. 

After soaking up the sight, we  

climbed back up the 150 steep steps 

and continued following the tranquil, beautiful blue water. The trail was periodically sprinkled with friendly reminders saying, "Please do not enter". You can't tell from the photo but it is quite a ways down to the water.

 

   Pedro continued to expertly guide us through the trails of the Tenorio Volcano National Park. Everywhere we walked, the verdant rain forest was filled with vined wrapped trees.

 There were lush plants lining the trail.

Pedro emphatically instructed us to make sure we never touched the leaves or the trees.  

We soon learned why.

As we walked on, Pedro stopped and pointed to a tree on our trail. It had a lovely bromeliad on it. He said there was a poisonous eyelash pit viper on the tree.

Can you spot it?

As you look closer

you will see in this photo, the poisonous eyelash pit viper behind the bromeliad. 

Thanks to Pedro's professional guidance, throughout the day we spotted numerous mammals, birds, and yes, more reptiles.

High in a tree, Pedro spotted a Howler monkey. Pedro impersonated the Howler's voice to which the Howler aggressively responded. This Howler monkey was especially vocal and filled the rainforest with its distinctive howl. Believe it or not, this monkey's howl can travel more than one mile in this dense rainforest. The deep growling menacing call of the Howler monkey is what Steven Speilberg used as the dinosaurs' "roar" in Jurassic Park!

The lush tropical greenery on either side of the trail was beautiful and often brushed against our pant legs. 

At first glance, the seemingly benign palm leaf along the trail looks to have 2 dead brown leaves on it.

 

Pedro told us to stop and take a closer inspection. There was actually only one dead brown leaf on the palm frond and the other brown item was the poisonous brown eyelash pit viper! 

Here's a blow-up of the pit viper.

Pedro also spotted numerous spider monkeys

Spider monkeys are distinctive for their disproportionately long limbs and long prehensile tails. (A prehensile tail is one that has adapted to grasp or hold objects such as fruit).

  We also saw numerous tropical  birds.

It was a magical morning! Although we were sorry we had to leave we were filled with such amazing memories. But, we had to get ready for our exciting, adventurous afternoon, tubing down the Rio Celeste!

 Our afternoon tubing adventure down the Rio Celeste river can best be described as semi-controlled chaos. It was a blast and we laughed so much we nearly drowned! Here are a few highlights:

One of our guides explained the safety rules of tubing this portion of the Rio Celeste. 

The river is rocky since it's the dry season, but keeping one's bottom up as one goes over the rocky part by pushing your legs over the side of the tube is needed for a successful run.

Here is the start of the trip as we were told to hold onto each others' tube.  

As we were headed through the rapids and rocks  I wave at the photographer and accidentally let loose of our travel companion Nigel's tube.

But luckily we recovered before the next rapid. The rest of the trip went without incident until I flipped going through a rapid...but what great fun! 

We stopped for a "spa day" where we put the silicon-rich mud on our faces, hands, and legs.

It was tons of fun especially at the end of the trip when I was the only one continuing down the Rio Celeste as the others were getting out! Can you see the guide rescuing me and pushing me back out of the current towards the others? I simply did not want the fun to end!

     

What a great day hiking in the  Tenorio Volcano National Park 

and tubing on and in the Rio Celeste. Magical day indeed. 

Tomorrow the adventure continues as we travel to La Fortuna. 

We can't wait to see what adventures await!