“Los Inocentes Ranch”
We woke up with the view of another impressive volcano, Orosi Volcano, which literally means “Gold Yes!” even though they haven’t discovered any gold yet. Everyday this week we have anchored at a different site, and there has always been a volcano adorning the landscape. That’s why each of the Central American flags has a volcano on them.
After landing in Cuajiniquil, we had a 40-minute ride to the huge and great ranch “Los Inocentes.” When I say huge, I mean it, because this is an hacienda of 1200 hectares that used to be a cattle ranch. Today it is a horse farm, and mainly a tourist destination. The owners of the ranch are very careful in preserving the forest around the area. The farm is part of Guanacaste province, a tropical dry forest on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. As such it has mythological and enormous trees such as kapoks, “tree killers” or giant figs, mahogany and Guanacastes, the tree in the legume group from which the area has received its name. The forest is home for howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys, and everyone got the chance to see one or the other, or all of the three. Most of us entered the forest by horse. Beautiful horses that know the trail that winds through narrow streams, underneath giant trees, and across splendid open pasture. Those who did not feel like riding had their forest adventure mounted on a trailer pulled by a tractor. Birds were spectacular too: toucans, Montezuma’s oropendula and magpie jays.
I was surprised by the beauty of this ranch, lost in a far northern province of Costa Rica, but with the modern life comforts and surrounded by protected tropical forest, and with a view of its own private volcano. Because there always has to be a volcano in the scene to make it just perfect.
We woke up with the view of another impressive volcano, Orosi Volcano, which literally means “Gold Yes!” even though they haven’t discovered any gold yet. Everyday this week we have anchored at a different site, and there has always been a volcano adorning the landscape. That’s why each of the Central American flags has a volcano on them.
After landing in Cuajiniquil, we had a 40-minute ride to the huge and great ranch “Los Inocentes.” When I say huge, I mean it, because this is an hacienda of 1200 hectares that used to be a cattle ranch. Today it is a horse farm, and mainly a tourist destination. The owners of the ranch are very careful in preserving the forest around the area. The farm is part of Guanacaste province, a tropical dry forest on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. As such it has mythological and enormous trees such as kapoks, “tree killers” or giant figs, mahogany and Guanacastes, the tree in the legume group from which the area has received its name. The forest is home for howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys, and everyone got the chance to see one or the other, or all of the three. Most of us entered the forest by horse. Beautiful horses that know the trail that winds through narrow streams, underneath giant trees, and across splendid open pasture. Those who did not feel like riding had their forest adventure mounted on a trailer pulled by a tractor. Birds were spectacular too: toucans, Montezuma’s oropendula and magpie jays.
I was surprised by the beauty of this ranch, lost in a far northern province of Costa Rica, but with the modern life comforts and surrounded by protected tropical forest, and with a view of its own private volcano. Because there always has to be a volcano in the scene to make it just perfect.
