Monday - The rain cleared out over night and we started with a cool, clear sunny morning that warmed up a bit through the day. It was a wonderful day for hiking.

We began the day with a great breakfast with bean burrito, small egg bake cup, toast, and lots of fruit - watermelon cantaloupe papaya banana pineapple and mango.

Our 16km hike was up a mountain and down the other side, ending with some fairly flat walking across the valley and up a final draw to a lodge in the low hills.

We hiked up the mountain along an extensive water project that delivers water from a high mountain reservoir to the population below. Our guide explained that access to potable water is a right to all citizens of Costa Rica.

We saw quite a collection of birds through the morning, including tanningers, hawks, hummingbirds, and others. As we left town, three small dogs joined us. They guided us for our entire hike and we have no idea if they returned home the 16km or are just sleeping somewhere out there tonight.

We traversed a large coffee plantation with it's own community of worker houses. Crossing a small foot bridge over a creek, we arrived in Navarro around 1pm. Our hosts provided a nice lunch of vegetables and rice and then everyone got settled, took showers, and relaxed.

It is quite a bit cooler here since we are higher into the mountains. Our dinner of vegetable and sausage soup with rice was perfect for a chilly evening.

You can see our progress at Hikers Social