We went to see an awesome farm in the mountains of San Ramón where you can see the fullll Gulf of Nicoya! It is also a place full of history, with a family that has the desire to share their treasure so that more people appreciate this town.

How to get there? Head towards San Ramón by the Route 1 Interamericana North and it is necessary to exit right like If you were entering San Ramón. Then, as soon as you enter, you have to take the left towards Piedades Sur and then turn left towards a soccer plaza in Piedades.

WAZE: https://waze.com/ul/hd1gckm8ub Distance: 2.5 total Difficulty: Easy Accessibility: Yes (horses are available)

What to bring? Fresh clothes, sunblock, hat, comfortable walking shoes, tablecloth and picnic food, change of clothes and an excellent attitude.

Vehicle: Automobile Parking: Yes Pets: Yes Camping: Yes Contact: Rachel: 8347 5111 Asaria: 71132826

Cost:

Hikes: Entrance to the Caluza Viewpoint: ₡ 3000 Day pass with a welcome cocktail: ₡ 7000 Day pass with meal of choice: ₡ 9000

Horseback riding: Tour to the 2 paddocks + Welcome cocktail: ₡ 13000 Tour to the 2 pastures plus food: ₡ 15000 Tour to the 2 paddocks, jousting game, feeding: ₡ 18000

The thing is that we met up in San Ramón downtown at 8:30 in the morning, Glori and Tavo left for San José and I (Trejos) from my office in Guanacaste. Once all united, we followed the address that they had passed us, passing Guaria de Piedades Sur until we reached the house, we were greeted at the grandfather's house (literally) with a pinto "egg-mounted" style (egg in the middle of 2 tortillas) while we listened to the story of the farm told by his heirs.

After lunch they explained the activities and a little of what we were going to do, then we bathed ourselves in sunblock, grabbed the stuff and went into the paddock next to the grandfather's house. We didn’t make much progress since we came across a pair of adorable oxen that let us pet them like they were dogs, we continued walking uphill until we reached a giant pasture where we could see the sea for the first time.

This place is ideal for picnics, it was crazy windy so we decided to name the place "Whistling Paddock", we continued walking even more upwards and arrived at another place where not only can you see the sea but also the green mountains of San Ramón. Something you should know is that it is a farm, and like any farm, there are horses and cows everywhere, so part of the ride is to feed them with carrots to take pictures with them. This part was awesome because the horses arrived where we were and we gave them carrots, while we enjoyed the view.

After this, we had to see the main viewpoint called Caluza, and this is a bit far from the grandfather's house, there is the option to go on horseback or by car (like us) ... So we drove 5 minutes to the other gate to park and we started walking up this other paddock for about 20 minutes, the view each time got better and the excitement of reaching up to see beyond the mountains became more intense.

When we reached the top, we came across a view like the one in Cerro Pelado ... several layers of mountains and in the background the wonderful Gulf of Nicoya. We stayed here longer, Glori made a boiled egg and we sat talking nonsense with the Vásquez family and then went down to do our last and most expected activity: Slide down with cartons and boards on the grass like when we were kids ... you only have to relive the outdoor games that they gave us so much joy in our childhood.

This trip was back to basics, it was nice to enjoy the simple things in life with people that we appreciate ... this keeps us grounded and says a lot about who we are today.

February 2018