Central America,  History,  Independent travel,  Photography,  Transport,  Travel Blog,  Walking

Lakes & Mountains Of The Central Highlands

January 23, 2022 /

Two things which are a regular aspect of our travel but haven’t yet featured in Costa Rica, each come into play on our journey from Cartago to Atenas: a train journey, and a hire car.

The rail service here is extremely limited, with just two short lines heading out of San Jose in different directions, one of which is, handily, to Cartago. Once the transport of fruit started to switch from rail to road, the railways steadily fell into disrepair and each time an earthquake wreaked havoc, another section was abandoned. Some modest investment has recently enabled purchase of old stock from Spain and new stock from China (not Derby, sadly) and there is talk of old routes being resurrected.

  • Cartago Station
  • Cartago Station

And now, for the first time in over five weeks in Costa Rica, we have the freedom afforded by a hire car, though in all our experience of hiring and driving in different countries, we’ve never been given anything like this before…

  • Our large hire car

Our new base of Atenas has a claim to a world best, stating very boldly anywhere you care to look, that National Geographic named this one small town as having the best climate of any place anywhere in the world. Well, as far as the Nat Geographic part of the claim is concerned, they apparently never made any such such statement, but somebody somewhere came up with it so we’re expecting something pleasant.

And as we drive our hired beast the relatively short distance from the depot to Atenas, there is certainly perceptible change, and we see examples of parched grasses in a country where everything else has been the lush green of the tropics. This sudden change is apparently due to a phenomenon known as a “rain shadow” where an area which receives sunlight from directly overhead is also protected from moist air by a mountain range: precisely what we have here.

Central Highlands

Costa Rica’s roads have more than their fair share of potholes, and, away from the main highways, some ridiculously steep hairpins and narrow lanes with deep rain gulleys on either side. In this big pick up truck, it’s fun but it gets just a bit scary in places.

The Church at Sarchi

One such drive brings us to Sarchi, a small town which like Atenas owes its existence to its position on the old “oxcart route”. Unlike other trade routes such as the Silk Route, this one is named after the vehicles which carried the commodity, rather than the commodity itself – which was, of course, coffee, on its way from the mountain “fincas” to the Pacific port at Puntarenas. 

The oxcarts themselves are beautifully painted wooden items – originally a suitable size to be drawn by two oxen, but now available to the tourist in every size from fridge magnet to full replicas. In the centre of Sarchi is what is apparently the world’s largest version, in pride of place on the central square.

The worlds biggest ox cart

Atenas, our base, is a really pleasant little town, like all other Costa Rican towns arranged in a grid of streets around a communal green space. After a succession of airbnb apartments and houses, we are in a hotel here, but one in an incredible position, way up on a mountainside above the town with superb panoramic views. Its position is fantastic and slightly unreal, hanging off the edge of the mountain so that there is nothing beneath the balconies. The drive up to the hotel is though just another assault on the senses!

View from the Hotel
Hotel on top of a mountain

Unlike the other volcanoes we’ve visited on this trip, Poas is very recently active, its latest eruption having been in 2019. Poas still emits dangerous levels of toxic gases and showers of ash, so all visits to its rim are limited to 20 minutes and involve the donning of hard hats. Within the crater lies a spectacular turquoise lake, and ash fields of graded shades of grey, way below the viewpoint in the massive crater.

On poas, an active volcano

Our views of all this are almost dreamlike, the lake emerging from and disappearing behind cloud cover like rock stars in dry ice – teasing glimpses of something magical for just a moment. A photo opportunity, if you’re quick enough.

The ash covered slopes beneath Poas are fertile ground, particularly for coffee plantations and strawberry fields. The strawberries are beautifully sweet and juicy; coffee shrubs stripe the steep hillsides like Chianti vineyards. It is in part actually Starbucks country, the largest of the fincas, Hacienda Alsacia, having been acquired by them in 2013 and now producing not just large quantities of coffee but also educating other farmers in how to increase yield and improve their living standards. At least that’s what Starbucks told us.

Coffee plantation
  • Finished for the day
  • Coffee harvest
  • Helping with the harvest

Atenas brings to a close our run of short stays as we head next to the northern Pacific coast for a slightly longer stay. 

View from our room

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