River Runs and Waterfall Trails: Tubing La Leona in Rincon de la Vieja

It starts with the sound before anything else — a distant, insistent rush that grows like a promise as you drop into the dry tropical forest. The trail to La Leona threads between brittle-leaved guanacaste trees and stands of giant fig, the path alternately crunching underfoot and slipping into shallow riverbed where water, cheeky and cold, dares you to keep a steady pace. Three hours of walking, river-hopping, and low-angle climbing later, the forest opens and La Leona releases itself: a sheet of dark basalt crowned with foam, mist choreographing with light.