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Almost every recommendation we have received about places to go, see, eat, visit and enjoy here has been a good one. We have very few experiences that didn’t live up to expectations.



That changed today. We were encouraged by Sonia at the Uvita Information center and a few other people to see the waterfall at the top of a privately held nature preserve called Rancho de Merced. It’s just a few miles outside Uvita, and includes an impressive building housing the office, gift shop, and bathrooms.



We made arrangements to meet the owner and paid the rather steep price to gain access to his property. His main business is horse tours, but he also allows hiking to the falls. (Maybe that should have been a warning sign to us).It was only after we had paid that he told us it was 4.4 kilometers (2 ½ miles) and that the trail would be “muddy” due to last night’s rain.



We set out with water and food about 9am. The hike quickly became difficult. It turns out the trail is also used for horses making the trip up the mountain, so we had to walk where 6 or 8 of them had already “gone before”

Parts of the path were so wet we almost lost our shoes.

We also passed giant termite mounds,

giant trees,

ugly trees,

and walked through grassy meadows.

We figured after all this, the waterfalls would be spectacular, but when we finally arrived after 90 minutes of slogging, there wasn’t much to them.

We ate lunch,

swam a little (the water was clouded with mud and full of huge rocks), and hung out on the rocks,

before we decided to head back down.


Sarah and even Samuel were remarkably good natured about the long distance and very difficult passage. Only when we were very close to our car did Samuel start to complain that his legs were tired. Sarah made the entire trip with nary a whine, and led us along most of the way.



We emerged from the woods about 1 pm. Our shoes were a little dirty.

We drove home and cleaned up. We rested a little and cut up a pineapple we bought Saturday.



We figured we deserved a nice meal after all that work, so we went to the restaurant we ate pizza at our first week. We were intrigued by their menu, featuring pollo asada (roasted chicken) , pasta, and other items unusual for this area.



Here we were not disappointed. We had roasted chicken from their brick oven,

fried chicken (kids), pasta with mushrooms, tomato and chicken, breadsticks with tomato sauce, beans with homemade tortilla chips, all accompanied by homemade tortillas and various sauces and condiments. They are even nice enough to let you (or Samuel)

open a wine bottle you bring, because they do not have a liquor license.



Sarah enjoyed being a young lady with flowers in her hair.

Amy finally found a restaurant serving plenty of ice.

The owner was very appreciative of our going to eat there twice. It was a very satisfying meal.



Tomorrow is our marine adventure tour in Whale Bay. Look for pictures and a summary tomorrow.