Cascada Rana Roja
A beautiful place to escape from the city, with a little hiking, a perfect waterfall, large pools, nature and a lunch that will make you like not wanting to go home.
How to get there? You have to get to the town of Platanillo de Pérez Zeledón, either by the highway Costanera or by Cerro de la Muerte.
What to bring? Fresh clothes, swimsuit, towel, hat, insect repellent, sunscreen, tennis shoes, flip flops and an excellent attitude.
Distance: 2km Difficulty: Easy Vehicle: Preferably high clearance car Parking: Yes Pets: Yes Camping: Yes, and also cabin for 5. Contact: Jeffrey 8302-7025 Cost: Entry: ¢ 1000 Lunch: ¢ 5000 (includes entry) Lodging: ¢ 20,000 with meals included (maximum 5 people)
Early Saturday morning we headed towards Perez Zeledon, from there we turned right to Dominical and half an hour later we arrived at the town of Platanillo to run into Jeffrey and Andres, who were going to take us to this place.
The road from the main street was gravel, we had to pass about 3 bridges, one of those were made of rope and super narrow which caused some emotion to the deal. There is only one part that is stone a bit loose, but with a high car anyone it’s easy peasy.
When we arrived we were conquered by the smell of the wood stove, we soon met Jeffrey’s parents, they are a beautiful couple who work as a team to get ahead with their farm that hides a treasure without much effort.
We unpacked our stuff from the car and got ready to go to the waterfall for a while. We did not know what we were going for, and we let ourselves be carried away by our blessed curiosity. We walked about 500 meters through meadow until we reached a forest next to the river, this is where we found this wonderful waterfall.
The place is perfect, it is a wall full of nature with several falls, a cozy pool in the lower part and has several corners to discover. Obviously you know what happened in this part... we got out of our clothes and let ourselves be soaked by this waterfall that really makes you want to stay all day, the water temperature is perfect.
After taking many photos and videos, we decided to continue our hiking through the woods to another pool that is about 30 minutes walking flat. You have to be careful because there are little frogs everywhere, you just have to look at the sides of the path to find them.
When we started to go down to the other side of the mountain, we began to hear a bigger river ... and then it was. A big river, with super clean water with several waterfalls and beautiful pools, and of course ... surrounded by a tropical forest of the most exotic kind. We returned to dive into the water but after a while the hunger won and we we returned to the farm to grab our lunch.
As if it were not enough with the nature that surrounds the farm of this family, they also have a vegetable garden where they plant their vegetables and some ponds with tilapia. Fishing in the pond is not as easy as it seems, we lasted about 20 minutes nonstop to get our ideal lunch, and then we went to see the preparation process.
The lunch hour arrived, and what a lunch ... imagine that we were not sure if this post was going to focus on the delight of food or the paradisiacal waterfall Rana Roja because even the rice was delicious!
But hey, after this we took a nap in the Ticket hammocks until it started to pour, we went to the cabin where we would spend the night next to the sound of the river.
After the siesta came the time for dinner, and you have no idea the deliciousness of this food, it was a rice with porkchop that teleported us to Christmas, the porkchop was something else. After that we watched the football game.
The next morning we prepared our junk to return, we are clear that it is not just a cool place, it is a model of rural tourism that won over our love, support and stomachs. Many times the projects are a reflection of the people behind them so we really recommend it.
**BONUS: Ask for the plate with tilapia, the best we have tasted.
DATE OF THE WALK - October 2016