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| The Traveling Idiots, Martin and the Arenal Volcano |
On the drive from San Jose to La Fortuna we crossed the Continental Divide, passing from the Caribbean to the Pacific side. As we made our way closer to La Fortuna the difference was very evident. While it's green and tropical on the Caribbean side, it's greener and even more tropical on the Pacific side. "Fifty Shades of Green" seems to be the best description of this lush, rainforest filled country.
Friday we enjoyed relaxing here at the hotel, bouncing from one spring fed hot water pool to another. The temperatures vary from a high of 104 down to around 80 degrees. I steered clear of the 80 degree one, although Beth did try it out for a minute or so. One interesting thing we've learned is that because of the abundance of hot water, no chemicals are used in the pools. Every pool is drained, cleaned and refilled nightly
Late in the day we walked from the hotel into the small town of La Fortuna. The walk was around three miles and was along the main road. While there was a decent shoulder most of the way there were a few times we were pretty close to traffic. The drivers here are very courteous so we never really felt like we were risking life or limb, but it's not a walk for the faint of heart.
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| Along the walk to La Fortuna we passed a small Cocoa Plantation and restaurant called a Chocloteria………….no way we were going to pass it without stopping! |
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| Beth in one of her "happy places". This one is among the Cocoa plants |
La Fortuna itself is fairly small. There are a couple of very nice blocks of restaurants and shops around a town square that consisted of a large Catholic church and city park. We were impressed with the cleanliness and the fact that while it had plenty of tourism related businesses it was not overly filled with "tacky tourist shops". As we often do on our travels, we simply enjoyed finding a couple of benches around the park, sitting back and taking in the sights and sounds. It was getting near dark when we were ready to make our way back to the hotel. Walking into town in the light of day was very doable. As the sun was setting it would not have been a very smart decision so we opted for a cab ride back to the hotel.
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| The church in the center of town. |
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| It looked like we were in for a heavy rain but it only sprinkled for a few minutes |
There's plenty to do in this area besides sitting in the hot springs. There are zip lines galore, white water rafting, waterfalls, hiking and ATV adventures just to name a few. Yesterday we opted for a three activity combination. All three activities involved hiking, although they were all very different hikes. Our guide for the day was a young man named Martin. His partner and driver was Carlos. They were both very friendly and as it turned out, were also very knowledgeable. We picked up two other couples at different hotels, who joined us for the first activity, and we were soon on our way to Mistico Hanging Bridges Park.
Mistico is a 600 acre private reserve in a rainforest. There is a two mile walking trail through the forest that crosses sixteen different bridges, six of which were "swinging bridges". Along the way Martin provided some great information on both the plants and animals in the area, especially the numerous colorful birds that call the rainforest home.
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| Getting ready to cross the first of six hanging bridges |
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| Floating over the rainforest canopy. |
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| Roots of the Walking Palm Tree which is appropriately enough often referred to as the penis tree |
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| One of the many colorful birds in the rainforest. Of course we've forgotten all of their names. |
After completing the hike through Mistico, we dropped the other two couples off and we were quickly off to our next adventure. This hike was to the La Fortuna River and Waterfall. According to Martin, because of the rainforests there is always water flowing in the river and over the approximately 100 yard waterfall. To reach the base of the falls was a hike that wasn't very long but included 486 stairs. Once we were at the bottom there were two natural pools of water for swimming. One right at the base of the falls and another around 20 yards downstream. Beth hopped right in the second pool and called it refreshing. I got in up to my ankles and called it cold. She frolicked around for 10 minutes or so while I took pictures and cheered her on from the frigid ankle deep water. There's one catch about hiking down something with 486 stairs, and of course that is a hike up 486 stairs. We were motivated on our return hike because lunch was next on the agenda. It was at a small restaurant that we had actually passed the day before on our walk into town. The food was excellent and gave us a lift for our third and final hike of the day.
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| Martin was an expert at taking pictures through his binoculars using our I-phones |
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| Arenal Waterfall |
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| Bats sleeping under a palm frond |
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| Beth chilling out in the water below Arenal Falls |
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| Lunch was what Martin described as "traditional" Meat, Red Beans & Rice, Salad, Plantains and Mashed Potatoes...….all of it was excellent! |
We finished the day hiking up a rocky trail in the Mirador El Silencio Reserve. According to Martin that would take us as close to where the 1968 eruption of the Arenal Volcano occurred as possible. Like the waterfall trail, it wasn't particularly long but it was somewhat challenging because of the elevation change. This time it was hiking uphill first and downhill on the return. The views from the top overlooked the volcano and lava fields and by turning around we had a great view of Aernal Lake, which is a manmade lake that was built after the volcano erupted. One interesting thing we learned about this volcano was that the initial eruption did not occur at the top. It actually started at the base, by blowing out a huge crater known as Crater A. Over several years rockslides filled the hole made by the eruption, gases and lava built up and the next eruption was higher up the mountain, which appropriately enough was named Crater B. This process happened two more times giving us Crater C and D. The side of Crater D is actually the highest point on the volcano.
As volcanos go, the Arenal Volcano is a mere child, at around 7500 years of age. Between 1500 and 1968 it sat silently and was considered to be extinct. It's unexpected eruption in 1968 was a complete surprise, destroying two villages and killing 87 people. In addition to being young, from 1968-2010 it was considered one of the ten most active volcanos in the world. There has been no activity since 2010.
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| At the beginning of our final hike. |
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| A type of orchid growing wild along the trail |
We were dropped off back at the hotel with tired legs and way too much information to remember for too long. A good soaking in the hot springs was a great way to end the day after roaming through some of Costa Rica's fifty shades of green!
If you're in the La Fortuna area the combination package is a great way to see this amazing area and it's equally amazing wildlife. Here are a few things about this package that you might find helpful:
It's pretty much an all day affair. We were picked up at 7:10 AM and didn't get back to the hotel until around 4:00 PM.
All three places had excellent restroom facilities.
Changing rooms and showers are available at the waterfall.
Our tour operator provided water throughout the day.
Lunch was included with our tour.
We walked in our regular walking shoes. Hiking boots aren't necessary We did see some folks in flip flops but I wouldn't recommend it.
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