Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting here is rough and confusing due to the terrible roads and lack of good maps. A
bone-jarring 21km dirt road departs Hwy 237 at the small rest-stop town of Guácimo
(marked on some maps as Las Tablas). You'll pass through El Carmen before making a
sharp turn uphill for Estación Altamira (the ranger station).
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
BIOLLEY
Below the wilderness of Parque Internacional La Amistad, a network of rural villages is
signposted by Gaudíesque mosaic navigation markers made by a local artist. The com-
munity organization
Asoprola
acts as the area's information center, but aside from its
funky mosaic cafe and the quiet international park above, these farming villages go about
their business mostly unperturbed by tourists. While there isn't a lot of action up here,
much of what does happen revolves around the coffee bean.
shop 8am-4pm Mon-Fri) (Asociación de Mujeres Organizadas de Biolley), a women's cooper-
ative founded in 1997 that processes delicious locally grown coffee. In the village of Biol-
ley (pronouncedbee-oh-lay;named for a Swiss biologist who settled here) the colorful
beneficio(processing plant) uses ecofriendly methods that conserve water and compost
organic waste for use as fertilizer. If you arrive independently, you can buy beans at the
beneficio. Asoprola can arrange inexpensive accommodations in the Cerro Biolley lodge,
or even better, in a Biolley homestay with a friendly local family.
Biolley is 6km west of the crossroads in Altamira village, but the way zigzags and is
poorly signed; get detailed directions at Asoprola if traveling independently.
Activities
Hiking
Of the few visitors who come here to hike, most leave from Estación Altamira. The first
trail,
Los Gigantes del Bosque
, is a short 3km circuit named for the 40m trees along
the way. Signposts in Spanish provide simple explanations of some of the flora, and the
trail is an easy means of seeing some ancient rainforest. It passes two lookout points, one
on the edge of the primary forest, and the other overlooking the rural landscape outside the
park. The trail is marked, but it is not well maintained. Normally the loop takes two hours.
