Grecia & Poas Volcano
- Overview
- Grecia
- Poas Volcano
- How to get around
- What to take with you
- Our recommendations – what to see
| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||
| The towns of the Central Valley are scattered prettily amongst the surrounding mountains. Any journey out of town will involve going uphill or downhill or both! Just 30 minutes drive from the capital, San Jose, the area around the town of Grecia offers local crafts, waterfalls, botanical gardens and the unforgettable Poas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grecia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grecia sits amongst sugar cane and coffee fields and is dominated by the magnificent presence of the surrounding mountains and the peak of Poas volcano. | ||||||||||||||||||
| What’s there? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Just about everything you would expect to find in a small, bustling town. The wide streets are laid out around a central church and seating area. Grecia is famous for its metal church, ‘La Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora de Las Mercedes,’ which is a prettier than expected focal point. The shops are well stocked but you will need the local currency, Colones here; no one we asked would take US Dollars. Though there are plenty of expats in this area it does not feel like a tourist town and more visitors probably pass through than actually stay. It wont take long to ‘see’ Grecia; half a day is enough. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Banks | ATM’s | Post Office | ||||||||||||||||
| Indoor Market | Bakeries | Clothes and household Goods | ||||||||||||||||
| Supermarkets | Opticians | Dentists | ||||||||||||||||
| Restaurants | Cafes | |||||||||||||||||
| Poas Volcano | ||||||||||||||||||
| There are quite a few points that it is as well to know about Poas, even before you get there!
The first is that when you are looking for this 2708 meter giant amongst the range of mountains around you it wont be necessarily obvious which one it is!. There is no unmistakeable cone or steep sloped sides, as remembered from school books, that marks the active Poas out from its neighbours. Once you have established its whereabouts (and there are plenty of friendly locals around to help with directions) remember before visiting to consider the following- |
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| The Time | Most people will tell you that the best time to go to Poas is early morning. The national Park opens at 8am and general advice seems to be to get there for that time. However, the clouds to come and go across the mountain top, so much of what you see - or don’t see is down to luck. | |||||||||||||||||
| The Weather | The crater on Poas is high and often covered in cloud. The weather can be very different indeed from down in the valley. If you are going on an organised trip it will be pot luck whether you see the crater or not. If you are around the area for a few days you may increase your chances of seeing the crater by driving up or taking a taxi when you can see that the summit looks relatively clear. | |||||||||||||||||
| Clothing | Go prepared, for a better experience! If there is a lot of cloud on top it is the same as walking in fog and rain. Wear strong hiking shoes, there are some quite long walks, take a warm sweater and waterproofs. | |||||||||||||||||
| Visting Poas – What’s there? (Including the obvious) | ||||||||||||||||||
| There is a long, winding road up the Volcano, passing one or two lodges, hostels and cafes on the way and the stalls that sell the locally grown strawberries. It’s a tense hours drive up from Grecia as all eyes are on the mountain top, willing the clouds to stay away.
Almost at the top there is an entrance, car park and ticket office! Then the last few minutes are on foot along a paved road lined with Gunnera and suddenly you are there at the crater’s edge. The Main Crater is fenced on the ‘visitor’ side and a sign asks politely ‘Please Do Not Climb Down into The Crater’. It is truly an awesome sight at 1.6 km wide and 320 meters deep. Looking down the ashy slopes to the sulphurous lake is a breathtaking experience. Once you have seen the main crater, there are walks along trails through the stunted forests of the peculiar landscape Poas has created. Incredibly, just when you thought you had got as high as you can go here, the walk to Botos Lake, an extinct crater is uphill for part of the way! At Botos lake go up toward the little shelter and you will see another trail winding away; it is quite a long walk but leads though more dank and twisted forest, back to the car park. The final surprise (and it’s a good one) when you finally get back to your starting point there is a wonderful ‘cup and saucer’ sign leading to a cafe, tourist shop, art gallery and video room where you can watch a short film about the history of the volcano. You may also see one of the famous Poas ‘green’ squirrels in the cafe. The one we saw certainly knew the best place to get a bite to eat! They are not very green but they are cute! |
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| Car – Car hire available and the roads are reasonably good | ||||||||||||||||||
| Taxi – Widely available. Drivers will wait at the volcano etc for the return journey at a very reasonable price | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cycling and Walking – this is not a great area for cycling and walking unless you are very keen because of the huge and persistent gradients! We did see some people biking back down from Poas but have no idea how they got up there! | ||||||||||||||||||
| What to take with you | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Binoculars | ||||||||||||||||||
| Waterproofs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Our recommendations – what to see | ||||||||||||||||||
| The following are the places that we have personal experience of and that, for us, stood out from the crowd, in one way or another. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Los Chorros Waterfalls - Parqu Nacional Municipal Los Chorros
 Los Chorros Waterfall |
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| In brief – waterfall, trails and picnic area in a beautiful, natural setting | ||||||||||||||||||
| Los Chorros – review | ||||||||||||||||||
| Los Chorros is located close to Grecia but is not particularly easy to find. This is probably an indication that it receives less visitors than its much more famous big brother, La Paz Waterfall and Gardens. However, though there are no facilities at all (apart from toilets) this place is well worth a look for its natural beauty.
Once you take the turn off the main road the remainder of the journey is a bone rattling drive down to the car park but easily negotiable with care. At the car park, if you are the only ones there and have no – one to follow, it can be difficult to know where to start. Look towards the river where a trail starts down to the right. It is quite a walk down but the trail is well maintained and easy as long as you are mindful that for every step down there will be one up later in the day! Keep looking to the left as you go; down in the valley the river surges through and there are waterfalls to see on the way. Eventually the trail widens out into a picnic area with some benches and tables. You need to take everything with you; a drink , at least, will be most welcome at this stage. A ticket man is here at the picnic area but, it seems, you can come this far without paying the small fee. The short walk around to the main waterfall hugs the rock face and is a muddy affair; at the end a pretty little hammock bridge, wet with spray can be crossed to get within feet of the plunging water. Care needs to be taken though , when we were there, local school children were bathing amongst the rocks close by. Leave good time for the walk back up. it’s not too demanding but you don’t want to have to add speed to the climb! |
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| Sarchi | ||||||||||||||||||
| The small town of Saarchi is close to Grecia and makes a pleasant drive through if you are in the area. It is a place famous for the intricately painted ox carts made there. A full sized example can be seen on display in the town and scaled down versions of various sizes can be seen in many tourist shops throughout the country. Saarchi is also renowned for its furniture making and every second shop is a furniture shop! There isn’t much else to see so how long you will spend here will depend on how deep your interest in furniture goes! | ||||||||||||||||||
| Else Keintzler Botanical Garden
www.elsekeintzlergarden.com |
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| In Brief : Well laid out and maintained gardens
Else Keintzler Botanical Gardens – review Close to Saarchi, these gardens are attractive and well tended. The entrance building is polished wood and furnished with a small book stand, souvenirs and a lovely wide balcony outside where you can sit and get a first view of the gardens whilst drinking a complimentary cup of coffee! The staff at Else Kleintzner were exceptional when we visited. From the Director of the gardens down to a couple of ‘work experience’ students everyone we met were friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. A map is provided and the gardens are large enough for it to be needed. Heliconias, succulents, bromeliads and orchids are just some of the plants given their own area in the gardens. There is a stately palm lined walk and a forest section too. |
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| Mango valley
www.mangovalley.com |
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| In brief – a small lodge of wooden cabins with views of Poas and the surrounding valley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mango Valley – review | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mango valley is situated above Grecia on the Carbonal road. Its situation affords panoramic views down over coffee fields and across the valley, as well as the mountain range and Poas.
The wooden cabins are new. We stayed in one of the two Poas cottages which each have a small private balcony overlooking the valley. The cottages have a kitchen with fridge freezer and a work top hob. The double bedroom has satellite TV and the WiFi works very well throughout. Julia and Vlad, the owner managers of Mango Valley are exceptionally friendly; the hotel offers a free pick-up from the San jose airport but Julia readily agreed to collect us from a nearby hotel when we requested it. Julia or Vlad always came out to greet us whenever we returned from an ‘outing’ to ask us about our trip and offered to help with arrangements whenever they could. We were unlucky to have very rainy weather during our stay but, even so, managed to enjoy the huge flocks of parakeets that swoop noisily across the valley – on one occasion 60 or 70- of them! Going out to the various places we wanted to see was easy though there is nowhere within walking distance to shop for food or to buy a drink or visit a restaurant. If you choose not to drive yourself every time, taxis are a good and affordable alternative. We ised a local driver, Julio, recommended to us by Mango Valley. Julio was very flexible and friendly and any language difficulties between us just made each trip more interesting and, at times, hilarious! In a short time he felt like an old friend, as did Julia and Vlad. |
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