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: