Arenal/Fortuna – First Stop

Wednesday morning, Maryann and I hoped into the Alcaldia’s pick up and got a ride to the airport. We were off to Costa Rica!

After we landed, we hoped a cab to the bus terminal to pick up the bus for San Carlso – where we hoped to catch the next bus to La Fortuna. It looked like we were gonna make it since we cached the 3:30pm special. Specials don’t stop as often as the regular buses. Unfortunately – fogged stopped any chance of that happening. We got there 5 minutes to late. But, instead of waiting two hours for the next bus….we hopped a taxi. The guy did the job off the meter….but I think he underestimated how far he would actually of had to go, so, he screwed himself a little bit on that one.

Anyway, we got to the hotel around 8ish? We checked into our beautiful room and then went and got dinner – cause we were famished. The hotels restaurant wasn’t that bad. After all that eating fun – we went back to a room full of ants. Mostly in the bathroom – but big guys. So, we opted to call the front desk and change rooms. This turned out to be great for two reasons – one being that there were no ants in the second room and the second being that the back area of the room had a phenomenal view of the volcano.

That brings us to Thursday when we went cannoning in the morning. That’s when you repel down sides of rocks next to water – or at least that’s how it was for us. It started off a little rocky since my stomach decided that vacation was when it didn’t want to feel well – but then everything settle in time for the first repel. I believe we did a total of about 5 repels with a group of about 8 or 10 people. It was a fun time of getting wet and learning a new skill – I should get a Girl Scout patch or something. The repelling even came with lunch! That is where we met the owner of the business. She was an American and a little over eager. It was funny to see and a little annoying when she got pushy. Maryann and I soon noticed a trend – if an American owned the business - there was always a release form to sign, but if a Costa Rican owned it – there wasn’t.

After all the fun of the morning, we just chilled in the afternoon. Or should I say that I just chilled in the afternoon? Maryann had to do some homework. I checked out the natural spring pools and the spa – who doesn’t love a late afternoon massage? I had quite a number of knots in need of some work. And then both of us hit up a nice steak dinner. I miss good steak. You know – a piece where you don’t have to cut with the grain of the meat and it doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through. It was wonderful.

Friday was a packed day – we’re not about lazy vacations apparently. In the morning, we went caving (or spelunking for those of you in on the vocab). We had the fortune of being the only two people who had signed up for the tour that morning. I’ll get into why this was fortunate later. Anyway, we got there and found out this wasn’t a cave overly touristy – you still needed to wear helmets with the lights on top. We hiked through and checked out the rather large spiders, the different bats and the beautiful rock formations. And since it was just the two of us and the guide – we got to go check out smaller and less visited areas. Of course, this included me crawling 20 feet on my stomach through a rather small opening – thank God, I’m not claustrophobic. Other fun included getting hit on the head with a stick a few times. Explanation – before crawling through a small opening, the guide advised us to keep our heads low until we were sure we had cleared the rocks above. So, I go crawling through and lift my head and whack it into the rock (don’t worry, I have a helmet on)…I then crawl a little farther and do the same thing. I then look up and see the guide was whacking us on the head every time we lifted our heads. What a sick joke that Maryann and I found hilarious. We then made our way out of the cave via the crawl and when back to their center. They then asked us to help film a short thing explaining why it is best if you don’t bring your camera and let them take the pictures…which was true since it was wet and dark. We’re still waiting to get that film back.

The afternoon was a nicely relaxing one. We hung out at our pools till 3 or 4ish and then headed into town for some food. It was really good – I love rotisserie chicken. The town itself was nice to check out. They had some little shops and a town center. Around 5ish we hopped a taxi to take us to some other natural springs. We went later in order to get the lower price and enjoy the hot water when it was cool out and not while it was boiling out. This springs are naturally heated by the volcano. They had springs of various temperatures. We, personally, staked out a spot where a seat had been formed and the hot water could come crashing down your back. It was wonderful. We spent a few hours just chilling in the hot water and switching pools. We also spent time being lost. Those pathways were very confusing. And once we were done – it was on to the dessert bar. That’s right – tiramisu, mousse, melted chocolate/caramel – all a little piece of heaven.

Then is was Saturday – our last day there or least half day. We woke up and got our free breakfast. Then it was off to the hotel zip lines. Zip lines are lines that have been strung between two large trees. You connect on and fly down the line. I seemed to have trouble stopping and thus got the reputation of hitting trees. I want to clarify that I never actually hit a tree – I just came in a little quick. After the first few, I’m waiting at the next platform and look over just in time to see Maryann in the superman position flying down this line (with the help of one of the guides). I was like – that is so typical. The next line she went down upside-down. When they saw I was jealous, I got to do it too. I must say, it helps to be two single girls vacationing – cause the guides weren’t gonna do that with the girls who’s boyfriends were standing right next to them. Hehehe.

Alas, that brought to an end our adventures at Fortuna. We hopped on a shuttle bus headed for La Playa Hermosa.