Day 16: La Fortuna - Caving, Hiking and Hot Springs

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This morning, we headed out on our spelunking tour of Venado Cave with EcoTerra. With flashlights to light the way, and helmets for protection, we were ready for the unknown. To get to the entrance of the cave, we had to walk down a couple of slippery steps. We got a glimpse of our first and last encounter with a tiny red poison dart frog. The frog was only about an inch in length. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of the frog because I left my camera and phone behind. Renata and I were told not to bring our cameras and phones because they would get wet in the cave.



We walked, climbed, squeezed and crawled our way through various tight passages in the cave. I was definitely glad that I did not bring my camera into the cave. I would have damaged it for sure. Our last cave stop was called the Papaya because of its’ papaya looking shape. The Papaya was created when a stalactite and stalagmite met and formed a column. The tour leaders from EcoTerra sent pictures taken from the tour but we could not access them on our computer. Oh well, the memories in our minds will just have to do.



After the Venado Cave tour, we refueled with fresh fruit before heading back to our hotel.



In the afternoon, we headed out on an Arenal Volcano Hike with Desafio Tours. Located inside Arenal Volcano National Park, Arenal Volcano is about 3000 years old. The volcano is now dormant with its last eruption being in 2010.



On our hike, we saw vipers, a Jesus Christ Lizard, and interesting birds. We also had an amazing view of the Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal.



We ended our night and last day in Arenal at Los Lagos Hot Springs. A well-deserved break from an adventure packed couple of days.





Tomorrow, we are going white-water rafting on the Balsa River, as we make our way from La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio.

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