La Fortuna, Costa Rica

---

Volcano Trail Day 15: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We left Monteverde for La Fortuna. After an hour of driving we arrived at Arenal Lake. This is a man-made lake formed by a hydro-electric dam/plant. It was a quick 20 min boat ride across to the other side and the town of La Fortuna. La Fortuna is at the base of the very active Arenal Volcano. It is also a huge tourist town. Gringos are everywhere. Many foreigners own homes in the area and prices are very high for everything. On the first day I chilled out, read the newspaper in Spanish, and walked around the town... very little charm to this town. Enjoyed an expensive dinner and drinks before calling it a night.

Day 16: La Fortuna, Costa Rica
After sleeping in, it was off to Rio Balsa and some white water rafting. Although very expensive, it was worth it. Lots of rapids, and no need to paddle much! We even stopped under a tree where a sloth was sleeping - so close I could have reached up and touched it. We also saw the "blue jeans" tree frog - called this as it has blue legs on an otherwise bright red body.
After rafting we re-groups for Birgette's (one half of team Denmark) birthday. After cake we went off to see Arenal Volcano at night. We found a spot on the side of nearby hill and watched lava shot down the side of the volcano - it was surreal. Now I know why you aren't able to climb this one!
We were then off to the Baldi Springs. These are a series of giant hot tubs, ranging in temperature from burning to luke warm. They also had some killer water slides. Man, were these crazy - cranked my head off the side of one real good too!
Following this, we got ready for a night on the town to celebrate the bday. Luckily we get to sleep in before heading off for the final day of the trip - San Jose.

---