Upon leaving San Ramón, I began to realize that I had a rather limited number of weekends left with which I could do things. Added to the fact that I had yet to take a trip without either my program or my parents, I decided that I was going to do something. The thing of it didn't matter terribly, I just knew I wanted to have planned and gone on a trip by myself and get myself out of San José and the sitting around on the weekends that I usually end up doing. Following recommendations from the Red Cross people, I decided on La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is the town at the base of Volcán Arenal, a famous volcano because it was erupting until 2010, but is one of the few volcanoes that nevertheless still has a conical shape. With another student from the program and some advice from other students, off I went.
We got to feel nice and knowledgeable at the bus station, where we kept running into lost tourists who were so glad to find someone else who spoke English and so impressed that we'd been here for three months. The first night we went to the hot springs. There are about a million and one places to choose from, but we went with the recommendation. Which was lovely. About a bajillion pools, constructed to feel like you weren't in a resort but still in the forest. And some crazy big slides, one of which was fun, the other terrifying.
Day two we went on a tour hike of the National Park, where we saw pretty flowers, birds, animals, and then a lovely view of the volcano on one side and the lake on the other, while standing on a lava flow. In the afternoon we went to a waterfall. Now, I was thinking a little swimming hole type place with a small waterfall. But instead, we hiked down about 600 steps (going back up was fun) into a deep valley, where a very tall waterfall plummeted off the cliff into a small pool, and then the river continued. It was cold, so I didn't spend much time in the pool with the waterfall, but it was cool just to feel the sheer power of all that water. I enjoyed the river and people watching much more.
We kept getting asked by taxi drivers what our plans for the nights were, but we were perfectly content with our dinner and gelato and early bedtimes.
Day three was my favorite. Although no one we'd talked to had been super gung-ho about kayaking, we decided to go for it. And I am so so glad we did. I think everyone was used to big adventure things like ziplining or nice resort things, but kayaking was perfect. Just my pace and style. Down Rio Peñas Blancas, me, my friend, the guide. So peaceful and quiet, floating down a river in the middle of a forest. And it turns out I am much more interested in looking at birds when I'm not on a hike! Got to see two species of monkeys, iguanas, basilisks.
Topped off by a last meal and gelato and finally, clear weather allowing us to see the top of the volcano. Coming back to San José, to classes and routine, was a little rough. If I could spend every day kayaking down a river, I'd be content (although my shoulder muscles might disagree).
La Fortuna is the town at the base of Volcán Arenal, a famous volcano because it was erupting until 2010, but is one of the few volcanoes that nevertheless still has a conical shape. With another student from the program and some advice from other students, off I went.
We got to feel nice and knowledgeable at the bus station, where we kept running into lost tourists who were so glad to find someone else who spoke English and so impressed that we'd been here for three months. The first night we went to the hot springs. There are about a million and one places to choose from, but we went with the recommendation. Which was lovely. About a bajillion pools, constructed to feel like you weren't in a resort but still in the forest. And some crazy big slides, one of which was fun, the other terrifying.
Day two we went on a tour hike of the National Park, where we saw pretty flowers, birds, animals, and then a lovely view of the volcano on one side and the lake on the other, while standing on a lava flow. In the afternoon we went to a waterfall. Now, I was thinking a little swimming hole type place with a small waterfall. But instead, we hiked down about 600 steps (going back up was fun) into a deep valley, where a very tall waterfall plummeted off the cliff into a small pool, and then the river continued. It was cold, so I didn't spend much time in the pool with the waterfall, but it was cool just to feel the sheer power of all that water. I enjoyed the river and people watching much more.
We kept getting asked by taxi drivers what our plans for the nights were, but we were perfectly content with our dinner and gelato and early bedtimes.
Day three was my favorite. Although no one we'd talked to had been super gung-ho about kayaking, we decided to go for it. And I am so so glad we did. I think everyone was used to big adventure things like ziplining or nice resort things, but kayaking was perfect. Just my pace and style. Down Rio Peñas Blancas, me, my friend, the guide. So peaceful and quiet, floating down a river in the middle of a forest. And it turns out I am much more interested in looking at birds when I'm not on a hike! Got to see two species of monkeys, iguanas, basilisks.
Topped off by a last meal and gelato and finally, clear weather allowing us to see the top of the volcano. Coming back to San José, to classes and routine, was a little rough. If I could spend every day kayaking down a river, I'd be content (although my shoulder muscles might disagree).
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