Yesterday we woke up early and left our hotel in Alajuela for good and headed out towards our next destination... Catarata del Toro Waterfall. About an hour and a half north, the trek in the morning was beautiful and we arrived at the waterfall in what felt like no time. After paying a small entrance fee, we grabbed a couple walking sticks and started off on the 1000 meter trail (3280 feet) to view Costa Rica's largest waterfall from the base.
Getting down was actually pretty easy. The steps down were made of concrete and wood but there were a lot of them and knowing that we needed to come back up was a little daunting. We get down to the bottom and it's jaw dropping. The massive amounts of water pouring out was a spectacle to be seen and would recommend anyone to see it. Brian and I started shooting immediately and kind of did our own thing for about 45 minutes. Shooting it was tough. Mist and water was on your lens instantly and you had to have a cloth at the ready and use your lens cap when you weren't actually taking a photo. After shooting around, Brian and I linked back up and started shooting some portraits with each other. It was an incredible experience.
Now it was time to get back up. I counted 417 man made steps... give or take. I don't know how many paces it took but it was actually easier than I thought. Brian and I crushed it in about 15 minutes. Naturally, we were thirsty and a cerveza was calling our name. "Imperial" beer is kind of the "Budweiser" for Costa Rica but for whatever reason, it tastes so damn good.
We headed out on our 4 hour car ride to Manuel Antonio to meet up with the wedding party. We got turned around only once and made a quick stop at The Crocodile Bridge. The locals feed the crocs live chickens when no one is around so they congregate there all the time. I counted 22 total crocs at one point. Brian snapped some shots with his longer lens and then we kept going. We arrived at the villa where we will be staying for the next 4 days but no one was there so we went down to the beach and shot the sunset in Manuel Antonio. This little town has changed quite a bit since I was here last in 2010 but is still an incredible place. To be around 5,000 feet elevation in the morning and then have our toes in the sand in the evening was pretty awesome.
