Ahhhh... Arenal!

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Sunday morning (November 27th) we left Santa Elena via JEEP-BOAT-JEEP transportation to La Fortuna (the town near Arenal Volcano). The roads between Santa Elena and La Fortuna are so bad that a bus trip alone takes almost an entire day, so given that we were pressed for time we opted to take a "jeep" (actually a microbus) to Lake Arenal, then a boat across the lake, and then another "jeep" into La Fortuna. This trip was slightly more expensive but only 3 hours long. It also gave us the opportunity to experience some more rough roads, narrow bridges, and breathtakingly beautiful scenery (as well as some interesting horse transportation - see pic!). Due to a mix-up in booking, Leanne ended up with a different JBJ company, so we said goodbye at the hostel and hoped to meet up on the other side. Even though her driver was 45 minutes late coming to pick her up in Santa Elena, she managed to beat us to La Fortuna! When we arrived at our hotel she was waiting for us. The three of us decided to grab lunch at a soda across the street, where we were soon joined by another volunteer friend of ours (and housemate in San Pedro), Amy (from Texas). We investigated some of the local tour options and found that all of them leave in the morning, so our options of how to spend the afternoon were quite limited. Amy suggested we stay another night, and after a quick call to our volunteer organization, the switch had been made!

After lunch we booked our tour for the next day - hiking in Rio Celeste. The girls headed out to do some souvenir scouting while Chris relaxed at the hotel. Around 5 in the evening we piled into a taxi and headed to the Baldi Hot Springs. There are numerous options for visiting hot springs in La Fortuna, from free to about $60; we opted for Baldi as it came highly recommended, and for $28 we got access to the 25 different hot springs all night as well as a buffet dinner. This was possibly the best $56 we have ever spent! Baldi is a swanky hotel (Vegas-style) with hot springs that consist of thermal mineral waters that run off from the volcano and are directed into separate pools, from cold pools (super refreshing) to 152°F pools (unbearable!), and everything in-between (including waterslides and even a swim-up bar!). We tried out all of the pools, spending lots of time relaxing under warm waterfalls and loving life, Pura Vida! We took a break for dinner and enjoyed everthing the buffet had to offer, including fresh fruit juices, soup, salad, rice and beans (obviously), a chocolate fountain with strawberries, and of course coffee! We sat for a while and chatted about our volunteering experiences, travel plans and life in general, whilst sipping coffee and tea and listening to the pouring rain outside. Muy tranquilo! After dinner we went back to our favourite pools to soak up the heat before heading back to the hotel - all in all a fantastic day!

Monday morning we were picked up for our tour of Rio Celeste, so named because of the crystal blue colour of the water. Apparently there is no place else like this in the world - very unique to Costa Rica. We drove for 1.5 hours to get to the start of the hike. Along the way we saw fields of pineapple and sugar cane, and workers using machetes to harvest crops... such a diverse and interesting agriculture! When we arrived at the ranger station the weather was beautiful. Our guide Johnathan led us through the primary and secondary rainforest, not to mention a whole lot of mud! Our surroundings were gorgeous, though the nature of the trail (covered in tree roots and loose rocks, with many steep ascents/descents) meant we had to look down for most of the time. Johnathan pointed out many interesting plants, including a garlic tree (really smelled like garlic!) a 'kerosene' tree, named both for the smell (yes - smelled like kerosene), and its utility (it can burn even when wet), and many other plants with important medicinal properties. Our first stop on the hike was at natural hot springs (aguas termales). This was a very interesting experience (quite different from Baldi!) because the hot spring area was literally off to the side of the river, and while the hot part was extremely hot as it was generated below the rock from the neraby volcano, it mixed with very cold water from the river, so no matter where you sat in the pool the temperature was constantly changing (in the photo, the pool is in the bottom right). Also, the hot springs smelled strongly of sulphur - not exactly appealing! That said, we were so happy to experience a true natural hot spring, and the surroundings were incredible - definitely a highlight of the hike! On our next stop along the river we got to see natural bubbling in the water due to volcanic gasses. Our final stop was at a waterfall. The view was beautiful, and Leanne even braved the cold water for another dip. Because we were doing a circular loop for our hike, our group had to cross over to the other side of the waterfall. This didn't look too challenging, aside from the fact that we had to wade through waist-deep water. However in practice, it was another story! Our guide helped each person across and when we each got to our turns we discovered why - the rocks were very slippery and hurt our bare feet, and the current was extremely strong! Getting to the other side without getting our shoes or cameras soaked was no small feat. We made it however, thanks to Johnathan's help, and after this we hiked back to the ranger station to enjoy a typical Costa Rican lunch. Given that by this point it was 3 in the afternoon, we were famished! Our grilled chicken casado plate with fresh fruit juice was delish!

After we returned to La Fortuna we decided that to soothe our sore muscles another trip to the hot springs was required! We chose to check out the cheaper option 'where the locals go', called Las Laureles. This place is not as swanky as Baldi (only 3 pools) but has picnic areas where you can enjoy your own food and drinks, so we picked up some snacks and hopped in a cab. It was a beautiful night, relaxing once again and the sky was ever so clear that we could see the many stars! After we had enough of the one hot pool we headed back to town in search of dinner. After looking at various restaurant menus we opted for the shishkebob cart around the corner from our hotel.

Tuesday morning we took the JBJ back to Santa Elena (all on the same boat and cars this time!) and during the boat portion we finally had a clear view of the majestic Arenal Volcano with only a small amount of clouds covering the tip, we seized the opportunity with many photos! We arrived back in Santa Elena where we said goodbye to Amy before heading out to the farm in San Luis. Monteverde and Arenal were such great experiences, we were excited to see what the coffee farm was all about! Details to come...

All our love,

Liz & Chris

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Photos

Boarding the Boat
En route to Arenal

Horse and Car
Not sure what else to say about this!

Lake Arenal
Beautiful view as we arrived in Arenal

Arenal Volcano
The view from our hotel terrace.

Hiking near Rio Celeste
One of many steep climbs!

Aguas Termales
Natural hot springs!

Gorgeous View
View from a lookout on the Rio Celeste hike

Rio Celeste Waterfall
Gorgeous blue water!

Finally a Clear Day
Arenal Volcano from Lake Arenal