A 20-year old hiker from the United States, who got lost while hiking in La Fortuna of San Carlos, was rescued along with a companion by members of the local Tourism Police and Fuerza Publica detachment. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the tourists were identified as David Yinglun and Alicia Borga Alvarez, the latter a young lady from Spain.

The tourists lost their way while hiking around the skirts of the Cerro Chato, one of the many natural elevations found in La Fortuna, a hotspot for foreign visitors in Costa Rica. The main attraction of La Fortuna is the active Arenal volcano, which is seeing an influx of tourists now that conditions at the Turrialba and Poas volcanoes are prompting temporary closures.

The hikers were able to call for help using a GPS-enabled smartphone. Tourism Police officer Water Torres Zepeda organized a search party and notified members of the local Fire Department, the Red Cross and Fuerza Publica. The rescue effort started at 4:00 pm, but the officers were not able to locate the tourists before dusk. Thanks to the GPS coordinates and the smarpthone, the officers were able to guide the tourists to a nearby forest patch that served as shelter for the night.

At dawn, the rescuers resumed their operation. To save time, they climbed up a mountain face before reaching the tourists, but later chose a known foot trail for the descent. The rescue lasted four hours; the tourists were bruised and muddied but in good enough shape and spirits to walk down the mountainside with their rescuers.

The Tourism Police in Costa Rica is a special law enforcement unit that is trained to handle security affairs related to foreign visitors. Tourism Police officers are often made fun of by their counterparts in Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, who call them “Baywatch Cops” since their jobs often involve giving directions to backpackers and investigating reports of stolen items at the beach. Notwithstanding, Tourism Police officers often deal with risky situations, which have been previously reported by The Costa Rica Star.