Fortuna Visit!!

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23rd May 2009 - ARRIVAL IN FORTUNA
We were so pleased to finally arrive in Fortuna after another 2 bus journeys. There had been far too much time spent on buses over the last few days. We arrived at around 5pm and it seemed like a nice little town upon 1st impressions. As we got off the bus, a lady stopped us and asked if we were looking for somewhere to stay that was cheap and close to the town. We definitely were and she pointed us in the direction of some cabins just across the way. We went to check them out. They weren’t luxury but they were nice enough and very cheap. We had a private room with a bathroom, TV, fresh towels and as many friends we wanted in the form of mosquitoes. We took it and paid our 3000 Colones each (about £3 - £4). The owners spoke some English and were really helpful in telling us what there was to do in the area. The guy was a bit slow though…he needed winding up!!

Once we had dumped our bags and freshened up we had a short wander into town to check it out. Very cute place and it did not have a dangerous feeling about it at all!! You could see Arenal Volcano from the town and had it not been for the cloud, the view would have been awesome! There was only one main street running through the town with a few shops, bars and restaurants on, as well as a small square with the usual church. We had a wander about, checked out the square and the church, researched some of the tours in the travel shops and then went on the internet for an hour or so. Once we had both had enough internet action for one day we headed back to the cabin for the night.

It was round 8.30pm when we got in and I put the TV on hoping there would be a few English Channels. No such luck…they were all Spanish except one and that was showing a pre war film which looked sleep inducing!! I left the TV on anyway as I got in my pajamas and the flicked through again. A new film was just starting on channel 22…Dantes Peak!! What were the chances?! In a small town right next to a huge active volcano watching Dantes Peak! I hoped it wasn’t a sign and the irony of the situation was not lost on me!! Once the film had finished I tucked myself in so that my feet were mosquito proof and then fell to sleep before Nat had even turned the light off. Sleepy head!!

24th MAY 2009 - VOLCANO TOUR
I slept ok apart from one thing. I was very tired and so I was in a really deep sleep when I heard what I thought was a car outside the door. The engine was revving and at first I thought it was ok as it would drive off but it didn’t!! The engine kept ticking over and over and making a lot of noise. I half wanted to get up and go out to tell the driver to move off but I was too sleepy to even open my eyes. I think I kept trying to shout something but it didn’t do any good as the noise kept on going. After being kept half awake for around 30 minutes, I managed to get back to sleep only to wake up to the same sound at 7am. Surely not!! I was more alert this time and realised that it couldn’t be a car as there wasn’t even a road outside our cabins. I opened my eyes and saw where the noise was coming from…the fan!!! Geez! I got straight up and turned it off for a little bit of peace. I couldn’t believe I thought it was a car engine!! No matter even if I had realised what it was though…far too hot not to have it on during the night. Nat said I was talking in my sleep a lot about cars and noise…that must have been why!!

Once we had milled about for a bit getting showered and dressed, we headed out for some breakfast. We found one place that didn’t look too pricey and so we went in there. Mine was ok as you can’t really go wrong with a plate of fruit. Nat’s friend breakfast was not so hot though and it was a case of ‘you get what you pay for!!’ Shocking and almost gave me a coronary just looking at it never mind consuming it. Safe to say she just ate the eggs and some of the bread.

Following breakfast we had a wander around town and booked a volcano tour for later that day. We managed to get a sweet deal so we were pleased. Once we had sorted the tour we did a spot of looking around the dozen or so shops. We were then at a loss as there wasn’t much to do and the tour wasn’t until 3pm. Thankfully it was sunny and so we made ourselves comfortable in the little park and chilled out on the grass for a while. Once we were fed up of being crawled over by ants we decided to take our journals and head to a nearby coffee shop where we both enjoyed an ice cream whilst we wrote our journals for an hour. Talk about outstaying our welcome!! We definitely did!! Following the coffee shop, we headed back to the cabins to change our shoes and get ourselves ready for the tour.

Once ready we headed back out into town where we both enjoyed a small burrito snack before heading to the meeting place at 3pm. The mini van was ready and waiting so we hopped on and set off on our way. We made a few stops as we went to pick up and drop of some other people until eventually there were 6 of us in the van plus Carlos the driver and Carlos the guide. Carlos the guide was a very greasy Diego…no other way to describe him!! What fun we were going to have!!

Our first stop was Arenal lake which is the biggest lake in Costa Rica and quite beautiful. We walked up a track part a good part of the lake and spotted wildlife. It wasn’t the wildlife we wanted though in the form of sloths and tigers and monkeys…all we got to see were birds and insects! I wouldn’t call them wild at all!! The Volcano looked spectacular with smoke billowing out the top. Green season seemed to be holding off today and the sky was a clear blue so there wasn’t any cloud cover. Eventually the Volcano went out of view and the walk became a bit of a joke. Carlos the greasy Diego said we had to pick up the pace if we wanted to see more, yet he stopped every 2 seconds to show us a different blade of grass. The 2 Americans from our bus made things a little more interesting though as they were both pretty tipsy and really funny to watch. Such a cute couple and drink definitely suited them!! The other couple were a bit quieter and didn’t speak much English…other than that they seemed nice enough. We ‘walked’ (I will use the term loosely) for half and hour and then the bus came along to pick us up.

Back on the bus, the sky was still clear with no sign of rain. Lucky us!! We were driven to the Observatory car park, however it was too early to go up to the observatory and we had a walk into the woodland first to see the waterfall. It was quite a small waterfall but pretty cool to see and it gave off so much spray that we were all soaking by the time we came away. We may as well have gone swimming in it we were that wet and my hair was stuck to me so much that I almost looked as greasy as Diego!! With all the spray coming off it looked all misty and eerie looking. I liked it!! Once we were all wet enough and had seen enough of the waterfall we strolled back out of the forest. Such a slow pace was set by Carlos, which meant that the insects kept lading on us in force. Carlos was too busy trying to make grasshoppers from leaves to notice and I wanted to put a rocket up his bottom to make him move a bit faster before I got eaten alive. Eventually we made it out of the woodland and up to the observatory.

The volcano was still clearly visible and looked impressive. The sun was setting over the lake too and the colours were stunning. Very beautiful!! I liked watching the sunset better than the volcano to be honest but that was mainly because we had been told that we would see red lava running down the volcano and sparks flying out of the top. There was more of a spark between me and the greasy Diego than there was coming out the volcano…it was as dead as a door nail!!! False advertising indeed but if I am honest it was still pretty cool to see and I had really enjoyed my day!! As the sun set it got darker (no surprises there) and the bugs came out with vengeance!! They were dive bombing us and everything and I slapped my legs so many times I ended up covered in red hand prints. Hate bugs…especially flying cockroaches!!!

Once dark and it was clear that we weren’t going to see any lave, we got back in the van and were driven back to our cabin. It was only 7.30pm when we arrived home but we were whacked. The weather had been spot on though and we had really enjoyed ourselves. We were both in very indecisive moods and so we had to flip a coin to decide what to do that evening. Go out and eat won the toss and we set off walking back into town. We found a place that looked pretty busy (always a good sign) and it was fairly cheap. It was a bit like a school diner though with long wooden benches and tables. I ordered vegetable pasta which was way too big for me to finish and Nat got Spag Bol. They were both tasty meals and did not taste like school dinners at all! Appearances can be deceiving!!

We were so full once we had eaten neither of us could move far. We waddled back to the cabin and crashed out hoping that there would be another film on but we lucked out. We spoke for a little bit about home. So close to the end now and we both had very mixed feeling about it all. Really disappointed that our trip is ending and neither of us were sure how we would feel when we get home!! Some very mixed emotions going on. After a good chat I wrote my journal for a bit and Nat got tucked in bed to go straight to sleep. I soon joined her!! Love sleeping!!

25th MAY 2009 - GOODBYE FORTUNA!!
I slept well enough despite the sound of the fan. Maybe it was because I knew it was the fan this time and not a car engine. Who knows!! I got up at around 8am, showered and dressed and the headed out to breakfast. We did not make the same mistake that we had made yesterday…oh no!! We went back to the place from last night. Again, I ordered fruit and toast and Nat went for the fry up! I was given about 6 portions of fruit... absolutely massive and I need not worry about getting my 5 portions in after that!! Nat’s looked better too…less greasy and much nicer than yesterdays. Once eaten we headed back to the cabin to pick our bags up and then made our way to the bus station. It was time to head to the beach!!

It wasn’t good. There weren’t any direct buses and it looked like we would have to get on 3 buses and spend all day travelling again if we wanted to get to Manuel Antonio! What a joke!! A lady came over to help us and said they were going so far in a taxi if we wanted to get in that so we could set off earlier. It would still mean getting 2 buses but we may get to our destination a bit quicker and there wasn’t much price difference. The lady seemed genuine as did the driver and so we jumped in the taxi. Goodbye Fortuna and hello public transport!!

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