Trivia: Volcano or not?

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hi! I know i have left you in suspense but here is why... This week i learned kind of how I need to handle mysef when my internet stops working, which is one of my computers favorite passtimes. I don't know why i feel so helpless without it but then after two days of it not working, it magically comes back on, I thank God, and my mood skyrockets. More of those to come, I'm sure. School this week was a lot more of the same, I have a project due in a couple of weeks! The group, which for now is settling in to be eight of us from ISEP, traveled to La Fortuna this weekend which is a little, but not surprisingly touristy town that sits as close as it dares to the active Arenal Volcano which, as I was told by Jake who is full of trivia, is one of the top ten most active volcanos in the world. Our first day (thursday) consisted of settling in, grabbing a quite casado for lunch, and exlporing the really sweet hostel we were in, Arenal Backpackers. We got really lucky with the rooming situation because each dorm had eight beds and a private bathroom so we had it all to ourselves! Friday, six of us decided to hike Cerro Chato, a dormant smaller volcano which is on the flanks of Volcan Arenal. The hike was a pretty steep (and lets face it, DIFFICULT) two hours up to the top. But it was so worth it because at the top was this a amazing little lake which sat where the volcano crater once was and it was so freshing! and cold! But on the way down we decided to be adventurous and take the trail down that the check-in lady said we would need a guide for. Pah yeh right! It only took turning around a couple of times, slipping in the mud, getting bruises, ducking through and under roots, passing the backpack which we dubbed "the Horcrux" around, a little bit of singing as a pick-me-up (lead by yours truly of course) and a lot of uncertainty to make it to the Arenal Observatory Lodge on the other side of Arenal volcano, which is this sweet little resort with great views of Arenal. Needless to say we were pretty exhausted and had a chill night. Saturday, the group split again. Three took a trip to Rio Celeste while the rest of us stayed behind to go to the national park on the volcano. We had a tiny problem when we found out the best way to go ( and the most economical) would be to take the tour which would be 25$ each... which was a little steep for some and we couldn't go until 3:15 in the afternoon. Instead, thanks to Zoe Soy Sauce Clark and her lonely planet book, we found this awesome (and free) little water fall/swimming hole with a rope swing where a bunch of locals hang out called "El Salto" (the jump). Not to mention, we were occupanied by some handsome gentlemen from our hostel (Canadian and English) which made things more fun 😊 The whole group plus a bunch of people from the hostel went to the one discoteca in the town which consisted of a big room with a bar and a big dance floor with strobe lights and a fog machine. Which means it was awesome. Sunday, we took the 1130 bus back, a pretty exact four hour trip back to San Jose and another thirty back to Heredia. All in all, good weekend, good experience, good friends, good times. I'm beat, enjoy the pictures! OH and i literally just now figured out how to check my comments on the first couple of blogs so i wasn't ignoring you! and thank you so much! I loved them! most of them..

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Photos

Cerro Chato
the one we hiked!

Hike back down the other side
you can see a couple of people on that small lake shore which is where we were earlier

Comments

[Thea]

Hello!
These pictures are beautiful! I miss you so much and I am so happy that you're having a great time!