Friday 14/10/2022 El Silencio – Mirador El Silencia trail around the base of Arenal (less touristy) – Rio Desague
La Fortuna, Alajuela
Tabacon, Provincia de Alajuela
COSTA RICA
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies, Cal Stewart, Kerrie Stewart
El Silencio Nature Preserve is found about 15 minutes drive out of La Fortuna west of Arenal by the Rio Desague. It consists of a series of trails through the heavy rainforest, views of Arenal Volcano and a side trail that takes you over a lava flow. The research Sue had done suggested this was a less touristy type of experience which we concurred with. The earthen trails were supported by wooden board-supported steps on the steeper sections, there were basic signs at track junctions to get your bearings and a couple of steel footbridges across the creek. This was a big contrast to our next experience at Mistico Park – Arenal Hanging Bridges.
Max elevation: 1639 m
Total climbing: 1159 m
Total descent: -1160 m
Average speed: 7.48 km/h
Total time: 02:32:12
Again we were more than happy to walk very slowly and quietly, hoping to see as much wildlife as possible. There was no problem locating numerous congo lines of leaf-cutter ants carrying their loads, in some locations there were very distinct paths created by them on the ground, it is hard to imagine how many trips must have been made for such small insects to leave such discernible tracks.
Walking along these trails one cannot but feel the forest, at ground level it is heavily shaded and dark, but still hot and very humid, “soupy” being an apt description. It is also incredibly green.
Sednero El Tabacon
Early on I caught sight of a couple of tiny hummingbirds. These proved to be far too agile and skittish to track and photograph, perhaps if I learnt more about their behaviours I would stand a better chance. We were to see several other species of bird today, some of which we were lucky enough to capture some photos of but many were only fleeting glances as they flew past or quickly bounced from place to place.
At the high and most distant point of the trail you emerge from the forest to Mirador El Silencia (a lookout), today we were able to see most of the nearby Arenal Volcano.
Onwards from Mirador El Silencia, we were out of the forest walking through farmland to the lava flow.
After the lava flow, we passed a small lake completely covered in green (Lago Verde) before reentering another section of forest on our return to the park entrance.
Towards the end of our walk, I finally was able to photograph one of the local lizards but missed out on capturing its much smaller companion who had a much more vibrant, almost iridescent tail.
True to the prevailing weather pattern of the afternoon, the rain commenced as we were nearing the end of our walk, of course, we couldn’t really claim that it had been a rainforest walk unless it did.
For the first time in our multi-day stay at La Fortuna, we caught a cloud-free Arenal Volcano around 4:00pm.
Broad-billed Motmot (Electron platvrhynchum), Sednero El Tabacon
Whilst we were there we saw:
Insects: Heraldica Clearwing butterfly, Eurybia lycisca butterfly
Reptiles: Middle American Ameiva (lizard)
Birds: Broad-billed Motmot, hummingbird, Dusky-legged guan
Mammals: Mantled Howler Monkey
Clickable icons on a world map which open the related trip report
A detailed, searchable trip list with links to reports, photo galleries and other content
