Today I headed out of the city to have a bit of adventure. The only adventure I can find in downtown San Jose might result in me heading home with a souvenir t-shirt for my wife that says, “My husband went to Costa Rica and All He Brought Me Was This Stupid Disease.”

I signed up for a tour here at the hotel. I didn’t know what to expect, because I usually hate being a “tourist.” These tours can sometimes be stupid, and I didn’t want to be stuck in a huge bus with a bunch of octogenarians. I chose a fairly adventurous-sounding tour that involved a hike around an active volcano crater and a waterfall hike. It turned out to be one of the best tours of my life.

I visited the La Paz Waterfall (translated: “The The Paz Waterfall”), which was a series of three 100+ foot waterfalls that ran down a lush rainforest, which rested on the side of the Poas Volcano.

Below is the top of one of the waterfalls before it spilled over into a 140 foot drop.*

Here is a picture of me standing beside the first of three waterfalls. It’s out of focus because the master’s hand (mine) was not in charge.*

Below are a few more shots of the waterfalls. There was so much mist and waterfall-spray that my camera lens got plastered with dew, so these pictures don’t really show off how awesome these were!*

(Pictures disappeared in Costa Rica under suspicious circumstances.)