We went to discover one of the highest and most beautiful waterfalls in Guápiles along with the legendary Don Hugo Durán. A very tough and demanding walk that brought out the Viking in us.

How to get there? Pass the bridge over the Toro Amarillo river and at the La Trocha restaurant turn right, there you pass the bridge, then you go and the first entrance on the left and then the first on the right and there you continue until you reach Don Hugo's house.

Waze: https://waze.to/lr/hd1u3sz3rh

Distance: 17km

Difficulty: Hard and Technical

Accessibility: Not accessible

What to wear?  Quick-drying clothing, trail running shoes that drain water well (or rubber boots), repellent, dry bag or ziploc bags to store electronics, 2 liters of hydration, snacks to walk for about 6 hours, dry change of clothes (to leave in the car) and an excellent attitude.

Vehicle: Automobile arrives just fine.

Parking: Yes there is (they charge 3000)

Pets: No

Campsite: Yes

Contact: Don Hugo: 8405-9220 Genesis: 8584-6691

Cost: ¢8000 / person

We left San José before 6 am to arrive at Don Hugo's house in Guápiles de Limón at 7:30 am. We got ready as quickly as possible to start walking and take advantage of the best possible weather.

The first kilometer and a half is along a path between farms until you reach the forest that protects the first crossing of the Blanquito River. Here your sneakers will start getting wet so it is not worth trying to cross over the stones, since later on you will have to cross again about 4 more times.

Then we continue along an old stone road that, according to Don Hugo, was for carts many years ago until we reached the Blanco River, which we must cross, and then we entered the forest for several kilometers of wild jungle along a beautiful path.

After walking for an hour and a half, we crossed the river again and then took a path that takes us up to the Gamalota waterfall. At this point the trail became more technical, there were 3 kilometers where you had to walk some parts between stones, rivers, large slopes holding on to trees, roots and ropes.

After one and a half hours we managed to reach the base of the Gamalota waterfall, although the road to get there was extremely demanding, the truth is that it´s worth every step. 

The waterfall does not have that much flow, it is very high, so what comes down is a giant shower. The forest that surrounds the waterfall is paradisiacal and has a small pool in the lower part, that is where we left our packages.

The most complicated part of the whole hike I think was to climb to the top of the waterfall since there were no trees to hold on to. It was just like loose stones, bushes and mud…pretty dangerous as well.

We climbed carefully, the view from above is amazing and then on the way down I hurt my ankle hard for taking a wrong step so be very careful.

To end our walk with a cherry on top, it started to rain hard and that made us walk non-stop crossing rivers, jungle as quickly as possible and therefore minimizing the risks of a river flood. After walking just over 2 hours, we managed to reach Don Hugo's house safe and sound, happy to have explored a new waterfall in this area that drives us nuts with its beauty.