Zulu Two - The Guanacaste Trek

The Guanacaste trek is a magical, magma-filled hike that showcases some of Western Costa Rica’s most incredible landscapes via three stupendous volcanoes and several national parks. The team kicked off yesterday at the hot end of iconic Volcan Arenal, a suppurating behemoth of a volcano whose fiery summit spews forth a steady flow of lava that lights up the night sky 365 days a year. During the first week, the group will skirt Lago Arenal tackling some remote and rugged ridges before dropping down to the lake side. After a night in Tierras Morenas, its back into the wilds – this time hiking up the Atlantic slope of Volcan Tenorio, through a unique and rarely visited jungle, to take a dip in the Blue waterfall and nearby hot springs.

By week two, the group will be gearing up to tackle the steamy summit of Volcan Rincon de la Vieja (1895m) plus checking out the fumaroles, bubbling mud pots and ashy grey mud of the national park that shares the volcano's name. On week three the action continues in Parque Nacional Guanacaste as the group summit Cerro Cacao (1659m) before finally emerging on the edge of Parque Nacional Santa Rosa – one of the last areas of virgin dry tropical forest in the world. Here, 253 species of birds, 10,000 of insects (including 3200 butterfly species), 100 of amphibians and reptiles and 115 mammal species make a home - peccary, bats, white-tailed deer, white-nosed coati, howler and capuchin monkeys.  

On top of the trekking, the trekkers will be tuning up their camp craft skills, taking a turn as ‘Day Leader’ and learning about the volcanic landscapes along the way, as well as conservation in the dry northwest of the country. Santa Rosa alone protects ten different habitats, which include the two different swamps - mangrove and mesquite-nacascol - as well as forests – oak, evergreen, deciduous hillside and littoral woodland - and also a savannah area.

But the best is saved until last: The Guanacaste Trek finishes at the incredible coastline of Junquillal Wildlife Reserve where the team get some downtime at the beach to sooth aching limbs in the Pacific Ocean.