We headed to this city, known for its active volcano straight away. When we arrived we became friends another couple staying at our hostel from Germany. Everything in this town requires the purchase of a way-over priced tour, but they knew of a secret spot where there is a hot springs river and knew a guy who would take us there. It was an incredible night. At sunset we drove out to the river where we relaxed in the hot water after dark and drank rum with our new friends. Just us and the fireflies. Afterwards we drove around the volcano [View Full Entry]

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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, [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. I put pictures up on the first entry about Carolyn's visit, so you should check them out! So... traveling to La Fortuna was very scenic. There were dramatic valley views as we climbed the hills. Once we were near, there was a mist around us. It felt like we were heading into the clouds! We arrived in the afternoon and it was a misty day indeed. We didn't have anywhere to stay, so we walked around a bit and eventually came to Gringo Pete's, a cheap youth hostel that looked fun. It was purple! Also, only $6 per [View Full Entry]

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la fortuna [View Full Entry]

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Det bles nordavind fraa fire kantar den dagen Cici reiste heim og eg skulle fortsetje ferda aleine. Eg sette inn turistgassen og slo til med ein tur til ein nasjonalpark same dagen. Her fekk eg sjaa baade krokodillar av fleire slag, skilpaddar og mykje anna i insektskategorien. Me vitja ein bananplantasje, og eg har handla ein klase til deg, Ingvild Spinnvill. (Den kan ventast i posten om nokre dagar!:) ) Det va ein gedigen nedtur aa kome tilbake til hostellet aa sjaa at Cici va vekk med heile drogariaen sin. (det va liksom daa det gjekk opp for meg at ho [View Full Entry]

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We have been in Costa Rica for 13 days now and each day brings new reasons to be amazed by this country. The climate, for one, is excellent. We have found that going to bed early and waking up early is the best way to make the most of our days here as the sun rises at around 5am and sets at around 6pm. The sunsets here have been another reason to be amazed by the country as watching it set whilst sitting on the warm beaches of Manuel Antonio you can clearly see as it sinks into the sea. It [View Full Entry]

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Leaving La Fortuna and its cloudy volcano behind us we took to the dirt roads in our private transport (well parents need comfort) in search of our next stop about 1700m above sea level in Santa Elena. Like La Fortuna the once sleepy farming community of Santa Elena was now a honey-pot-site for any tourist or wildlife enthusiast who ventures into Costa Rica. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the jewel in the crown of the Santa Elena locale. Along with this king of nature reserves the line up of potential attractions seemed more than adequate to keep us busy during [View Full Entry]

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Today we slept in, went to the supermarket, got breakfast and lunch and just chilled on our balcony reading, chatting and watching the world go by. It has been lovely!! Off to San Jose tomorrow when the tour finishes. I can´t believe how quick time flies. [View Full Entry]

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Another travel day... Thankfully left at 8 so not too bad, a 2 hour bus trip, 1 hour boat ride and a 30 min bus trip to La Fortuna. We arrived lunch time. So all in all not too bad!!! We went to the activities office to see what we could do here. Rafting has been cancelled due to the result of the earthquake last week. Not that I was going to!!! Signed up for the viewpoint of the volcanoe and the hot springs!!! Went for lunch with Aimee, Heather, Amy and Carol before chilling on the balcony in our room [View Full Entry]

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Na het ontbijt wat rondgewandeld in La Fortuna en tegen 2 u richting de waterval La Fortuna beginnen taffelen... deze keer niet laten vangen met een tour via tourist office! Stevige hike, vooral opt einde was t zwaar, steil bergop. Anderhalf uur later stonden we boven op de berg aan de ingang van het park...WAAAUW!!! Serieuze waterval! Enigste nadeel: via trappen in de rotsen moesten we zien beneden te geraken. Omdat het park al een uurtje later sloot, konden we enkel effe tot onder en dan was het alweer tijd om te vertrekken... we hadden anders wel een duikje zien zitten [View Full Entry]

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