La Fortuna, Volcano land

---

Wednesday 1st March, already, and the last day in San Jose. Not much really to do here, so just had another look around town, and spent the rest of the day watching International football in the hotel! Then got ready to go out that evening, and had a meal in Cafe Mundo, a pretty cool restaurant close to the hotel. It was also the first time I met the next group of people I was travelling with, 12 in total.

The next day was up at 7am, and checked out of the hotel and met the group who were staying in a nearby hotel. We had a meeting, and eventually left by taxi at 11am, to the bus station. From there we caught a public bus, a 5 hour journey after many stops, to the town of La Fortuna, north of San Jose. The first thing you notice is its surrounding mountains, and one in particular, a cone shaped mountain pointing towards the sky, and covered with cloud, Volcano!!!! The volcano is called Arenal, and is a live Volcano. The rest of the town is small and laid back, and is dependant on tourists. Its a nice relaxed place to be, especially after being in San Jose. We had nice brand new apartments to stay in, and not long after we checked in, we went out for a fantastic meal, and then we made our way to Baldino Hot Springs. The Hot Springs are totally man-made, but are fantastic, really relaxing and in paradise type settings, with bars actually in amongst the Springs, Waterfalls, a really cool place to be! It was also night, so we were there chilling out from 8pm-10pm, this is what being away is all about!

The next day I had a walk around the town, and had lunch, whilst the others went off and did an excursion. I booked a trip for 3.30pm, which was a hike up Volcano Arenal. The Volcano is surrounded by Secondary and Primary Rainforest, and the hike takes you through the rainforest and to a viewpoint near the Volcano, with a guide. You see lots of species of plants, huge trees and some wildlife, exotic birds and plenty of bugs! We then reached the Volcano around 6pm, dusk here, a perfect time as this is the time to see the red lava coming from the volcano, as long as the weather is clear. Luckily I got to see quite a bit, but by now it was a bit too dark for my camera to be able to take pictures. You also hear the Volcano rumble as it sends out the Lava, its like a plane going overhead in the sky, amazing! The Volcano is the only Live Volcano in Central America ( so the Guide mentioned ), and its last eruption was back in the 1950´s, which killed some 80 people.

I got back to the apartment at 7pm, and then had exactly the same Steak as I did the night before, as it was so nice, and the equivalent to 3 english pounds, including a drink!! As it was Friday night, we then all assembled at a bar, and made our way to the towns nightclub, which wasn´t the greatest!

---

Photos

Arenal Volcano
The Live Volcano, La Fortuna

Baldino Hot Springs
A bar, Hot Springs, Paradise!

Volcano at Night
Trying to see Lava trickle down the side of the Volcano