Bajos del Toro is a repository of super cool places. Every time we go we hear of new places we haven’t discovered yet. In this occasion, we headed to Tesoro Escondido (Hidden Treasure): a blue river with waterfalls and pools out of this world.

How to get there

If you have a SUV, use Waze

If you have a car, set Hacienda La Luisa and after that, the abovementioned location or you can go by Vara Blanca.

Parking? Yes

Cost: ¢3000 per person

Contact Details: Call beforehand to make the reservation 

8896-8017 / 87627101 Rosemary Cubero 8570-5434 Oscar Cubero https://www.facebook.com/cataratatesoroescondidosarchi/

Camping area: Yes Cost:¢10000

Pets: Yes 

What to take:

Comfortable clothing, jacket, swimsuit, towel, insect repellent, sunscreen, hat, hydration, picnic snacks, and hot chocolate (to have after the river pool; it’s freezing)

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 1,8 miles (3km) 

Facilities: Showers, restrooms, and places to eat.

We left San Jose very early with a couple of friends and dogs. They were waiting for us at Bajos del Toro for a trip that we wanted to make long time ago. 

The tour starts in the middle of a pasture where you leave the car. You walk next to the fence until you get to a trail that goes down up to a sky blue stream. You continue walking in a trail that gets slippery until you have to cross through a gigantic pasture. We stopped many times to get blackberries- there are a lot- while the dogs were happily running in the pasture.

After that, we went to another fence to get to the famous river we had heard of…  

First, we went right and then, down into a small, short, steep, and slippery slope in order to get into to the bottom of the first waterfall. It’s small, but size is not relevant when you’re surrounded by an awesome forest, water that seemed to have life on its own, and a pool that entered into a cave on the right side. This, along with the sound of the river, made us want to stay, but we still had road ahead to arrive to a bigger waterfall that was uphill.

So we went upstream. Around 20 minutes later, and after walking along the river and crossing it a couple of times through slippery rocks, we arrived to the bigger waterfall. As our guide told us, a lot of people stay in the first pool and never get to know the other. 

The scene is super cool. We entered into the water and almost froze while the dogs were staring at us from the rocks. Later, we got dried, had a snack, and returned downstream, but we wanted to stay a bit more. When we arrived, I was the only one to return by foot; the rest jumped into the pool from above. 

We stayed for a while enjoying and taking pictures. Later, went back to the blackberries field where we put the Gopro on #PrusiaPatasBlancas to take fabulous dog pictures. As soon as we went back to the car, we changed clothing and went to a local restaurant for a typical food dish called casado. Finally, we went back to San Jose.

DATE OF THE WALK - APRIL 2016