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The trip to Volcano
Ricon de la Vieja - February 1999
The Legend of Volcan Rincon de la Vieja. Volcan Rincon de la
Vieja means 'the little space of the old lady'. As the legend goes, a long
time ago, there were two Indian tribes living around the volcano. The Chief's daughter
from one tribe, fell in love with the Chief's son from the other tribe. Forbidden to
see each other, the couple escaped into the forest and had a baby. During this time,
the girls' father was tracking them down. When he found them, he took the baby and
threw it into the Volcano's crater. In deep depression, his daughter never left the
woods. Living alone in this environment, she became very good with natural,
herbal medicines. As the word of her knowledge spread, people would travel for days
and days for natural remedies. When they traveled to see her at the base of the volcano,
they would say that they are going to Ricon de la Vieja... The little space{ricon} of the
old lady {vieja}.
Volcan Rincon de la Vieja is located about 15 miles from Liberia, but it will take close to an hour to get there. The last 10 miles are a slow going. Its safe, but lots of stones, which is why you need to take it slow. The National Parks have a small office at the base of the Volcano. To get to the crater's rim, you will have about a 4 hour hike. We opted to the nature trail (1 hour - 3k) walk through the rain forest at the base.