Costa Rica April 2007 - Day 2
We awoke to sun streaming in the window and birds chirping outside our windows. We got showered, dressed and headed up to breakfast. The free breakfast provided by the hotel is really quite extensive. They have some Costa Rican food (such as black beans and rice, which is traditionally eaten at nearly every meal, and fried plantains which are like bananas) as well as more traditional western breakfast items (eggs, french roast, cereal, etc). I enjoyed some fresh fruits (papaya, pineapple, and watermelon) as well as the fried plantains and rice with black beans.
After breakfast we started our day at the Arenal Hanging Bridges. This hike through the Arenal forest is about 2 miles of trails interspersed with small bridges as well as large pedestrian suspension bridges. We didn't see many animals - mostly some birds, a praying mantis, leaf cutter ants, and lizards. Near the end, we did get to enjoy watching several spider monkeys in the trees above. We saw some beautiful scenery (with some extraordinary views of the volcano) and an amazing array of plants and trees. We also saw a lovely waterfall.
We went back to our hotel and rested for a bit, changed into our swimsuits with our hiking clothes on over the top and went into town to grab some lunch. After lunch, we wandered around the town and checked out some of the souvenir shops before heading out to La Fortuna Waterfall. We had a hard time finding the waterfall because the signs were in Spanish and I didn't know the Spanish word for waterfall. We got directions from a woman at a nearby hotel (whose English was about equivalent to my Spanish so it was interesting getting directions in a half English, half Spanish conversation). We finally found the park. Once inside the park, there was a great view of the waterfall from above and a tail leading down to the base.
We descended the path (mostly steps) to the base of the fall - 600 meters down. Once at the bottom, we stripped down to our swimsuits and jumped into the water. There was a pool at the very base, but the water is dangerous there so we swam around the bend a bit which was very cold upon getting in (no colder than Barton Springs) but felt really nice and refreshing. When we arrived, a larger group was just leaving so for a time we had the swimming hole to ourselves. We swam "laps" up and down the length of the small pool (probably about 25 meters). The water was clear and there were a number of fish (some as much as a foot in length).
We didn't bring towels so we dripped dry a bit before putting our clothes back on and starting the hike back up. Whew! What a climb. You always think you're in good shape until you do some sport that is not your usual one. We were definitely huffing and puffing.
We went back to the hotel, took a shower and went back to La Fortuna for dinner. We tried to locate an Italian restaurant for dinner that was recommended by the guide book, but we couldn't find it and ended up at another Italian restaurant instead. Costa Rican food is somewhat limited so they tend to eat a lot of other foods - Italian appears to be their favorite because there are multiple Italian restaurants here and nearly every menu we've come across at other restaurants also have Italian food on them. Our dinner was...weird but adequate. After that, we headed to the market to buy more water and we tried to go to a coffee shop for some coffee, but it was closed. We ended up at a bakery across the street and had some of the most delicious pastries I've ever had.
We drove the car back up the road towards the volcano and came around to the western side which is where most of the lava is visible at night. Most of the lava is large chunks of rock that rolls down the side. You can see the steam and smoke during the day, but the lava isn't really visible. So we tried to see it after dark, but all we caught was a slight orange glow at the top. We hoped for more activity the next night.
We came back to the room and watched a couple episodes of The Simpsons in spanish (which was humorous). I tried to translate bits and pieces for Roger (who doesn't know spanish beyond hello, please, and thank you). We made plans for the following day to wake up early and see if we could make reservations for a mountain bike tour in the afternoon and we decided we would check out the Sky Tram (a gondola ride up through the forest) and Sky Trek (a zip line ride back down through the forest) in the morning.
Click here for Day 3.
After breakfast we started our day at the Arenal Hanging Bridges. This hike through the Arenal forest is about 2 miles of trails interspersed with small bridges as well as large pedestrian suspension bridges. We didn't see many animals - mostly some birds, a praying mantis, leaf cutter ants, and lizards. Near the end, we did get to enjoy watching several spider monkeys in the trees above. We saw some beautiful scenery (with some extraordinary views of the volcano) and an amazing array of plants and trees. We also saw a lovely waterfall.
We went back to our hotel and rested for a bit, changed into our swimsuits with our hiking clothes on over the top and went into town to grab some lunch. After lunch, we wandered around the town and checked out some of the souvenir shops before heading out to La Fortuna Waterfall. We had a hard time finding the waterfall because the signs were in Spanish and I didn't know the Spanish word for waterfall. We got directions from a woman at a nearby hotel (whose English was about equivalent to my Spanish so it was interesting getting directions in a half English, half Spanish conversation). We finally found the park. Once inside the park, there was a great view of the waterfall from above and a tail leading down to the base.
We descended the path (mostly steps) to the base of the fall - 600 meters down. Once at the bottom, we stripped down to our swimsuits and jumped into the water. There was a pool at the very base, but the water is dangerous there so we swam around the bend a bit which was very cold upon getting in (no colder than Barton Springs) but felt really nice and refreshing. When we arrived, a larger group was just leaving so for a time we had the swimming hole to ourselves. We swam "laps" up and down the length of the small pool (probably about 25 meters). The water was clear and there were a number of fish (some as much as a foot in length).
We didn't bring towels so we dripped dry a bit before putting our clothes back on and starting the hike back up. Whew! What a climb. You always think you're in good shape until you do some sport that is not your usual one. We were definitely huffing and puffing.
We went back to the hotel, took a shower and went back to La Fortuna for dinner. We tried to locate an Italian restaurant for dinner that was recommended by the guide book, but we couldn't find it and ended up at another Italian restaurant instead. Costa Rican food is somewhat limited so they tend to eat a lot of other foods - Italian appears to be their favorite because there are multiple Italian restaurants here and nearly every menu we've come across at other restaurants also have Italian food on them. Our dinner was...weird but adequate. After that, we headed to the market to buy more water and we tried to go to a coffee shop for some coffee, but it was closed. We ended up at a bakery across the street and had some of the most delicious pastries I've ever had.
We drove the car back up the road towards the volcano and came around to the western side which is where most of the lava is visible at night. Most of the lava is large chunks of rock that rolls down the side. You can see the steam and smoke during the day, but the lava isn't really visible. So we tried to see it after dark, but all we caught was a slight orange glow at the top. We hoped for more activity the next night.
We came back to the room and watched a couple episodes of The Simpsons in spanish (which was humorous). I tried to translate bits and pieces for Roger (who doesn't know spanish beyond hello, please, and thank you). We made plans for the following day to wake up early and see if we could make reservations for a mountain bike tour in the afternoon and we decided we would check out the Sky Tram (a gondola ride up through the forest) and Sky Trek (a zip line ride back down through the forest) in the morning.
Click here for Day 3.
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