Alajuela - our last day

After taking a bus back from La Fortuna (~4 hours), we checked into a pretty crappy hostel. I think this one suffered from Lonely Planet syndrome, where they get a good review in the guide book, a bunch of people come so they jack up the prices, and stop maintaining the place as well as they should. We were not too concerned about it though, because we had booked a whitewater rafting trip that was going to take 11 hours in total so we would not be hanging out there much at all.

At dinner last night, we looked up from the table to see rafters getting rescued from a ridiculously swollen river, running brown with all the mud run-off. This was the first omen that today might not go as planned. This morning at 6 am, the rafting tour operator called our hostel to inform us they had to cancel because of heavy rains, which are very unusual this time of year. No problem, I thought... I will take that money we got back and go rent a car and we can explore the countryside with our own wheels. After trying 9 different car rental agencies, nobody would rent a car to me for one day, they all have 3 day minimums in high season. By this time, it was too late to get any other one day tours in the area, since they had all departed already. Damn. Time for plan F. I grabbed a cab, headed back to round up Christie at the hostel, paid our bill for one night, and checked into a pretty swank 20 room spanish colonial style hotel with a pool and hot tub.

From Alajuela

We ate really well there, and had a couple drinks by the pool and laid in the sun. Overall, it was a nice way to end the vacation (not as exciting as rafting though). Marilyn kept us company.

From Alajuela

Holy $*&%, a volcano

Yesterday, we left Monteverde and took what was billed as a jeep-boat-jeep transfer to La Fortuna. The two cities are only 25km apart as the crow flies, but they are on opposite sides of a mountain range with a huge lake in between. Riding a bus takes about 8 or 9 hours, as it goes around the mountains and lake. This transfer was only 3 hours, so we opted for it even though it was a bit more expensive. Instead of a jeep, a minivan came and picked us up, along with 5 other people, and took us to the lake on a rough road. Along the way, we had a nice view of the volcano, and I somehow managed to snag a photo out the window of it while a cowboy was riding past on his horse.

From La Fortuna

During the boat ride we had great views of the volcano as well.

From La Fortuna

I was wondering why there were no swimmers in the lake, since it looked so clear and nice. When we got off the boat to take...(you guessed it) another minivan, I found out why.

From La Fortuna

Our place in La Fortuna is really nice, and its right in the heart of town. We hiked out to a waterfall which was massive - the force of the water hitting the lagoon at the bottom was incredible.

From La Fortuna

You would just get wrecked by this if you swam under it (we didn't see anyone try).

From La Fortuna

Thankfully, there was a nice swimming hole in the next pool down the river, and we swam until we got cold and then headed out for dinner. I had my first ceviche, and it was fantastic.

Today, we hiked around in the national park that encompasses the volcano itself. We found another Currasow and this time I snagged a (crappy) photo.

From La Fortuna

The trails were really nice, and while hiking them we heard a pretty big explosion from the volcano. It pretty much erupts constantly, with small explosions shooting rocks out about every 15 minutes or so, but we only heard the one bigger one. One of the trails led to this really big tree:

From La Fortuna

After about an hour and a half of hiking, we reached our destination - the furthest you can safely go before you are at risk of getting hit by flying rocks.

From La Fortuna

Allegedly, at night you can see the lava flows, assuming you drive to the correct side of the mountain and its not cloudy. We didn't make the trip out to try and get the photo, since our hotel (and the town) is on the wrong side. After we got back, we figured we pretty much had to go and try out one of the hot springs. While there are some natural springs you can go to if a local takes you, none of them are lit for night time soaking, and its pretty hot during the day. So, we went to one of the 'spa' type hot springs, which are kind of ridiculous. The one we went to was basically a water park, with lots of different pools heated to various temperatures from the naturally occurring hot water in a spring. It even has swim up bars and water slides...Think noah's ark for older people, and in the jungle :) The place was not very well lit, so I didn't take any pictures, plus I was swimming the whole time. We both agreed it was worth doing once, for the experience, but next time we will skip the man made pools and go to the natural ones instead.

Here are the rest of the photos from La Fortuna:

Zipping through the canopy

This morning (2/21), we went on a zip-line tour here in the cloud forest. The operators have basically set up a series of really long cables through the forest canopy and you zip along them in a harness. First, they deck you out in some gear.

From Zipline in Monteverde

Next, they gave us some instructions on how to slow down as you reach the next platform, and then we were off!

From Zipline in Monteverde

There were some slow ones, some faster ones, and some really long ones too.

From Zipline in Monteverde

After 13 or 14 of these lines, they took us over to a tarzan swing, which is basically a big rope that you get strapped to and then you jump off a platform, free fall for a second or so, and then you swing out over a ravine and swing back and forth a couple times. The guides haul you in with a stretchy line and then the next person goes.

From Zipline in Monteverde

I went first, but forgot to give the camera to Christie, and opted out of the tarzan swing, so we didn't get any action shots unfortunately.

After getting some lunch, we decided to book a night tour at the Monteverde cloud forest reserve. We have heard mixed reviews of night tours, so we didn't go in with too high of hopes.

Our guide met us at the visitor center just after dusk, and we set out with our flashlights in hand. Pretty quick he found us a tarantula with orange legs... I wish there was a frame of reference, she was about as big as your hand. (sorry they don't allow flash photography)

From Zipline in Monteverde

Our guide showed us some nectar bats eating at the hummingbird feeders, and then we found a Quetzal sleeping, and a couple other birds, but mostly just bugs. Speaking of bugs, they have not been too bad here and most of our rooms have mosquito nets.... Although Christie managed to get stung by a bee and get roughly a thousand sand fly bites one day.

From Zipline in Monteverde

Tomorrow we are travelling to the town of La Fortuna which is at the base of the Arenal Volcano, the most active volcano in Costa Rica.

Here are the rest of the pics from the day.