Costa Rica Dimante Waterfall ❁ PURA VIDA

One of the highlights of this amazing trip was hiking to, sleeping in, and exploring the cave under the Dimante waterfall. The hike up was beautiful, overlooking a small village at first and then the gorgeous surrounding mountains.

There were a lot of stairs but the guides were great at leading and making the workout more fun with their fake grasshoppers or the leaves that whistled when you blew on them.

Here is a picture of our group at the beginning of the two hour hike, ready to go! 

The first part was a nice steep dirt road, where we saw a couple of people cutting down bananas. It soon turned into windy turns with stairs and dense forest, still with the steep incline.

Once we reached the top, there was a lush and colorful garden filled with different plants that we would get to try on our way back. We took a small break and then continued the trek to the waterfall, which was gorgeous. 

Here is the cave, which stretched on into the rainforest. It was an amazing place, the waterfall fell right over that pathway area in the left of the picture. It was like a house in the wild- there were beds tucked into the edge of the cave and the roof and a full kitchen along with a huge wooden table. A short walk led to bathrooms which also overlooked the entire vast jungle! 

Here is a picture of our group sitting on the big table once we made it through the hike to the cave. 

The first thing we did was eat lunch, prepared in the kitchen by our guides (who hike this route almost every other day). 

After a quick lunch, we got ready to go rappelling and took a short hike to the top of the cliff. It did not look nearly as tall from the cave as it did when we were standing on the edge, looking down. 

We went down in pairs, and were given basic instructions on how to work the rope, putting in as much as you want to go down. The hardest part was the beginning when we had to go 90 degrees with the rock! After that though it was pretty simple, unless your afraid of heights. 

Our competitive group started betting on which person would make it down faster, here is a picture of one pair going. 

The trick was to keep your legs apart and put in a little rope at a time...unless your able to go upside down like one of our guides! 

After our crazy adrenaline rushing activity, we were pretty much wiped for the day and spent the rest of time before dinner relaxing around the cave. 

Darkness came quickly around the cave and during dinner it was basically pitch black! We had another delicious meal and after playing many crazy and frustrating games with our counselors went to bed which was surprisingly comfeterable for sleeping on the ground. 

The rainforest at night is noisy and even louder in the morning, leading to an early rising! 

This experience at the Dimante waterfall was incredible and was the perfect end to our spring break trip! 

XOXOXO Rana