Thursday 13/10/2022 Rio del Toro – Blue Falls – Catarata del Toro
Toro Amarillo
COSTA RICA
Participants: Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies, Cal Stewart, Kerrie Stewart
Our last waterfall visit to this area around Bajos del Toro in central Costa Rica was part of a package deal that included yesterday’s Cataratas Las Gemelas – Pozo Azul – Catarata la Celestial – Blue Falls walk. It involves a short walk through the lush rainforest to one of Costa Rica’s largest waterfalls. The walk to the plunge pool involves a very worthwhile 80m descent where there are great views of the waterfall towering overhead, its aqua plunge pool and the deep canyon falling away below along the Rio del Toro.
Max elevation: 1228 m
Total climbing: 890 m
Total descent: -885 m
Average speed: 6.69 km/h
Total time: 01:53:44
At the entry station, we were greeted by several hummingbirds feeding at the bird feeder, from what we later learnt it appears this is by far the best place to get photos of them. Here they take multiple sips of the sugar-sweetened water, whereas out in the forest, they dart quickly between different flowers collecting tiny quantities at each.
Lush forest along the path to Blue Falls
Once to the upper edge of the river valley and out of the forest, we caught our first clear views of Catarata del Toro, an impressive drop into a large plunge pool. From the plunge pool, the river heads off rapidly 80m downhill through a narrow gorge that can be viewed safely from behind railings. It is one of the largest waterfalls in Costa Rica and further down flows into an extinct volcanic crater. The vegetation along the path was as impressive as we had come to expect in the lush Costa Rican rainforest, with many unique flowering plants, fungi and wild bananas.
At the base of the waterfall, there was plenty of mist and breeze making all the rocks very wet and potentially slippery. Whilst I did grab a few quick shots from near the plunge pool, I was constantly wiping water off my lens and did not linger for long to optimise my viewing angle. It also appeared as if I was getting a little fogging in the optical path of the camera, as many photos were to show. Hardly surprising given that Cal’s Canon EOS R camera had failed after getting wet in a rain shower on day one.
Whilst here, amongst other unidentified species, we saw
Birds: Gray-capped Flycatcher (Myiozetetes granadensis), Violet Sabrewing, Olive Finch (Arremon crassirostris)
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