Volcàn Arenal, La Fortuna y Las Cataratas

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I just have to say.... ¡Me encanta Costa Rica! (I love Costa Rica! -- or literally, Costa Rica is enchanting to me)

Oh, and I´m just gonna go ahead and apologize for this long email with probably wayyyy too many details. I´ve just been having such an awesome time that I want to share it ALL.

This past weekend I went to Volcán Arenal and La Fortuna. It was absolutely incredible!! We left at 6am saturday morning and took a loooong bus ride there... But the scenary was so worth it. The landscape is some of the prettiest i´ve ever seen, especially since the rainy season just ended a month or so ago. so everything is very very green. Although, I gotta say, bus drivers are CRAZY here... actually, all drivers are crazy... but when you´re driving fast along narrow, curvy roads with big drop offs, you take the cake... But we made it safe and sound 😊 with some car sickness.... It was worth it to pass all the beautiful countryside though. Much different than San Jose.

Our first stop was Las Cataratas, which is a HUGE powerful waterfall. It was so incredible that words and pictures cannot describe it (although pictures will be coming very soon). We took a mile-long, steep hike down to the waterfall. I jumped in the the water right away (go figure) and was very very cold with lots of slippery rocks. Then I climbed the slippery rocks up to the waterfall. The current was so amazingly strong. We stayed there for a long time swimming against the current, trying to touch the waterfall, which was imposible. Then we climbed to the otherside basically behind the waterfall where there was a fallen tree. Getting over there was SO hard bc we had to hold on tight to the slippery rocks to keep the current from pushing us away but it was amazing. The view from there was unreal and who doesnt want to sit on a tree right nixt to a beautiful waterfall? I hope everyone has a chance to go to Las Cataratas -- the energy and power of the place is amazing. Afterwards, we took a STEEP hike back up to the top in the pouring rain. I must say, I was quite tired and wet afterwards.

We then went to our hotel, which was SOOO nice. We literally stayed at the foot of the volcano on the very top of a mountain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arenal_Volcano
We had a patio that overlooked the valleys and mountains around the area. Then we went to the hotsprings, which are heated by the volcano. It was soooo amazing. Very healing. I mean, i felt GREAT afterwards. Totally relaxed, nothing hurt, although there was one hot spring where temps reached over 125 degrees...needless to say, i did not swim in this one. There were a bunch of different pools, and of course, I tried every one!

That night was SO amazingly fun. The whole group (who all rock by the way) hung out underneath the volcano and talked and played games and basically had an awesome time. I cant explain how amazing it is to have around 30 new friends from all over who I already feel so close to. Sometimes between 3am and 4am it is possible to hear the volcano rumbling and watch it spit red lava and I tried to stay up but got too tired. I think it was too cloudy though, so good for me 😊 Still, good times all around.

The next moring, I woke up and had a typical Costa Rican breakfast of rice and beans and chicken. I must say, I really just wanted a bagle, but oh well. On a better note, we could see the volcano PERFECTLY that day. It was completely clear of clouds, which is very rare. ¡Que suerte! You could watch the smoke coming out of the top, and the lava (which looked like gray chalk) spilling down. I cannot even describe how it feels to be standing at the foot of something so big and powerful as an active volcano. I spent all day relaxing by the pools and going down waterslides. There was a little volcano shaped hut thing in one pool (wonder where they got that idea) and 3 awesome waterslides. I rode each like 50 times and you can tell by all the bruises (or golpes) on my body. I must say they do waterslides a little crazier here. Also, I decided to try one that was for little kids and now I know why. The water was so shallow, my heels are killing me, but it was worth it.

Then, I went exploring to see the crocodiles. It was funny because I thought they were statues because they really dont look like I thought they would. But one moved and I screamed bloody murder. It was funny. Then, I got the guts to touch one really fast, which mom didn't really like to hear, butI'm in Costa Rica and wanted to try everything once I saw someone else's arm wasn't bitten off. Crocodiles are more lazy than I thought they'd be. It was neat because when we touched it, it's eye opened in the neatest way. It had like 3 different levels and was just amazing to watch. Next, I went to the butterfly garden and was talking to the butterflies in Spanish trying to get them to land on me, but it didn't work. They were beautiful, though. Actually, one of my favorite things to look at here are the trees and leaves...it's amazing how many different types there are and how beautiful they all look together. Of course, I have taken many pictures of flowers, too, because they are one of my favorite things of all time to take pics of.

We returned really late Sunday due to traffic from Palmares (this huge fiesta that we actually got to go to earlier in the week). I must asy, I love reggaeton, this reggae music with a latino twist and will probably get weird looks when I return becuase I have new CDs I'm gonna blast in my car 😊

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