Hiking, Rio La Fotuna Falls, Cero Chato Extinct Volcano

Yesterday we had a awesome hike. I made connections with a German traveler at breakfast. Started the walk in town, had to ask for directions, were redirected. About seven kilometers to the first destination, the Rio La Fortuna, Costa Rica Falls. The power of the water is so intense, imagine 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and this is the dry season. If you have lots of time and the stamina you walk just about everywhere. Good exercise for anyone. Yes, sometimes it is a little warm, I am used to it, I live in a "Sustainable Tree House" community in the southern zone of Costa Rica, fincabellavista.net. It is in the foot hills, with lots of ups and downs and pedestrian, therefore I get lots of good exercise. Anyway, the hike, while a little long, was worth the effort. The plan was just to the falls. When up there the hike to the extinct volcano Cero Chato was close by. So after a power smoothie we decide to hike to the Green Lagoon in the crater of this dormant volcano. Well there is varying information on how long the hike is, from one hour (from a local) to five hours (www.lonelyplanet.com). Our time was one hour and ten minutes, then another five minutes to the lagoon in the crater, not bad for an old guy like myself. The last ten to twenty minutes were quite brutal. We had already gotten our swim suites wet, so went skinny-dipping, glad no others were there, you know it's kind of like the tree falling in the forest, if no one hears it, did it really happen? Of course the views from this vantage point are spectacular, unfortunetly I'm still working on getting a better camera, plus I forget to charge the camera the night before, so no great pics of the view. On the way back down we caught up with other travelers and were blessed with a ride back to town. I may be able to follow up with pics of the lagoon and views, Tobias the other traveler will email later.