La Fortuna, Volcan Arenal, Monteverde
so this was my first trip out of Curridabat, the little town that i'm staying in, and i was more than ready to go see what Costa Rica was all about, and why so many people want to come see this country. brandon, myself, and cristina, (the high school spanish teacher we were going to school with), decided to make the weekend trip. this ended up being a great first view of Costa Rica and an amazing weekend.
we jumped on a bus that took about 4 1/2 hours instead of the 2 that it actually takes to get there. because we took public transportation and only paid a couple bucks for the ride, it made a million stops and wasn't direct. we did have seats however, which i'm learning is a hot commodity. the bus took us to the town of La Fortuna where Volcan Arenal is located. once we got there we found a nice hostel for cheap and set out to see what the town had to offer.
i have a book that i bought about touring Costa Rica on a budget, that has turned out to be one of the best investments i've ever made. the book gave lots of advice about choosing the right tours and people that sell tours on the street instead of with regular companies. of course within 30 min some guy was offering us a ridiculous deal on a tour package that we coudn't seem to turn down. it included a zipline canopy tour, a rainforest hike, a view of the volcano spewing lava at night, and then hot springs afterwards. it also included our "jeep, boat, jeep" trip from La Fortuna to Monteverde the next day. so we figured to jump on his offer. knowing the risks of buying a tour from someone off the street instead of a certain agency seemed to be worth it, and it ended up being the reason for such a crazy, and amazing weekend.
the next morning we headed out early for our zipline tour which can only be described through pictures. it was completely safe and with a very reputable company. imagine zipping through the tree tops of a rain forest and seeing the amazing view as you do it. there was a guy videoing and taking pics with us the whole time, so you can see exactly what we did, minus the wind in your face and and actually flying through the air on a cable! we also did a thing called a tarzan swing, that consisted of jumping off a platform and swinging out on this huge rope. i jumped pretty easily and couldn't believe how scared i was once i was flying through the air. definitely a morning of adrenaline rushes.
after the canopy tour we were waiting for a rainforest hike and then to go see the volcano that night. as we stood in our hostile while the rain poured down, we got a call that the hike was going to be two hours later. every time we were supposed to go on something, we wondered if it would actually happen because of the means in which we signed up for everything. but the van showed up at 5:30 and took us on a drive out to the rainforest that we were going to hike through to go watch the volcano
erupt. we passed all of the other tour companies with vans parked on the side of the road as our guide explained to us why our tour was so much better than theirs (of course). he said that they stopped right there and could only see the lava, and we were going to hike in to where we could actually hear it coming out of the volcano too. so after a long drive, we jumped out of the van and were handed 50 cent Rayovac flashlights from K-mart and took off. we probably hiked for about an hour or so through the rain, in the rain forest, through mud and whatever else was in our path that we couldn't see because the flashlights died about 30 min. into the hike. about half way into the trail, we came to a little hut and a hammock in the middle of nowhere and there was a mother and her kids standing in th
ere collecting a toll. very random! pretty much the entire time we continued to ask each other how ridiculous this whole thing was. after the long hike we came to a clearing and the 6 of us (2 other backpackers and the guide) jumped up on some rocks and watched this amazing volcano erupt. it was unbelievable! there we were sitting in the middle of this clearing in the rainforest in Costa Rica, watching and hearing lava pour down out of a volcano. i could never truly explain the experience.
the next day we got up and took a "jeep" (it was like a mini van- but they call it a jeep because the roads you are on are so bad) then a boat ride, then another "jeep" to
the town of Monteverde. more than anything i enjoyed the 2 hour drive, and getting to see the country and how the people here live. the landscape is amazing. once we got to Monteverde we walked on hanging bridges through the rainforest. we spent the night in our hostel playing poker with a bag of beans and an Australian guy, an Israeli girl, and a guy from Ecuador that were staying at the hostel too. i don't know that i've ever played such an interesting game. the whole time we were all explaining rules and talking in Spanish and English and a ton of Spanglish, all trying to communicate with one another. this was enough to round off of the randomness of the weekend! the next day we started our 5 hr. trek back to San Jose. the motto for Costa Rica is "Pura Vida" (pure life). after this weekend i completely understand why!
we jumped on a bus that took about 4 1/2 hours instead of the 2 that it actually takes to get there. because we took public transportation and only paid a couple bucks for the ride, it made a million stops and wasn't direct. we did have seats however, which i'm learning is a hot commodity. the bus took us to the town of La Fortuna where Volcan Arenal is located. once we got there we found a nice hostel for cheap and set out to see what the town had to offer.
i have a book that i bought about touring Costa Rica on a budget, that has turned out to be one of the best investments i've ever made. the book gave lots of advice about choosing the right tours and people that sell tours on the street instead of with regular companies. of course within 30 min some guy was offering us a ridiculous deal on a tour package that we coudn't seem to turn down. it included a zipline canopy tour, a rainforest hike, a view of the volcano spewing lava at night, and then hot springs afterwards. it also included our "jeep, boat, jeep" trip from La Fortuna to Monteverde the next day. so we figured to jump on his offer. knowing the risks of buying a tour from someone off the street instead of a certain agency seemed to be worth it, and it ended up being the reason for such a crazy, and amazing weekend.
the next morning we headed out early for our zipline tour which can only be described through pictures. it was completely safe and with a very reputable company. imagine zipping through the tree tops of a rain forest and seeing the amazing view as you do it. there was a guy videoing and taking pics with us the whole time, so you can see exactly what we did, minus the wind in your face and and actually flying through the air on a cable! we also did a thing called a tarzan swing, that consisted of jumping off a platform and swinging out on this huge rope. i jumped pretty easily and couldn't believe how scared i was once i was flying through the air. definitely a morning of adrenaline rushes.
after the canopy tour we were waiting for a rainforest hike and then to go see the volcano that night. as we stood in our hostile while the rain poured down, we got a call that the hike was going to be two hours later. every time we were supposed to go on something, we wondered if it would actually happen because of the means in which we signed up for everything. but the van showed up at 5:30 and took us on a drive out to the rainforest that we were going to hike through to go watch the volcano
erupt. we passed all of the other tour companies with vans parked on the side of the road as our guide explained to us why our tour was so much better than theirs (of course). he said that they stopped right there and could only see the lava, and we were going to hike in to where we could actually hear it coming out of the volcano too. so after a long drive, we jumped out of the van and were handed 50 cent Rayovac flashlights from K-mart and took off. we probably hiked for about an hour or so through the rain, in the rain forest, through mud and whatever else was in our path that we couldn't see because the flashlights died about 30 min. into the hike. about half way into the trail, we came to a little hut and a hammock in the middle of nowhere and there was a mother and her kids standing in th
ere collecting a toll. very random! pretty much the entire time we continued to ask each other how ridiculous this whole thing was. after the long hike we came to a clearing and the 6 of us (2 other backpackers and the guide) jumped up on some rocks and watched this amazing volcano erupt. it was unbelievable! there we were sitting in the middle of this clearing in the rainforest in Costa Rica, watching and hearing lava pour down out of a volcano. i could never truly explain the experience.after the volcano we hiked back through the rainforest in the dark, stopping to see plants, and animals as we went. after we made it out of the rainforest we headed to the hot springs. now the thing about the hot springs is that all of the other tour groups were going to a resort. we however headed to the river across from the resort, to swim in the actual hot springs where the resort is built up around. this was hysterical to us because as every other tou
r group headed to the resort, we walked down the dirt path, climbed down some rocks, and made it to the river. for us this was so much better than sitting at a resort with a bunch of tourists. we were the only ones there and had this whole amazing hot river to ourselves. we slid down a huge area under a bridge into the river, then down a waterfall into a huge pool. the tour guide and i swam under the waterfall to where it was like a natural sauna. because of how it was closed off, it was like a cave that was filled with the hot water and steam. a while after we had been there, a huge family showed up with tons of kids and we watched them play in the water. it was so funny to us that we were swimming in this hot river in Costa Rica with all of these kids and their families. i would rather find the local swimming hole than the resort with all the tourists any day!
r group headed to the resort, we walked down the dirt path, climbed down some rocks, and made it to the river. for us this was so much better than sitting at a resort with a bunch of tourists. we were the only ones there and had this whole amazing hot river to ourselves. we slid down a huge area under a bridge into the river, then down a waterfall into a huge pool. the tour guide and i swam under the waterfall to where it was like a natural sauna. because of how it was closed off, it was like a cave that was filled with the hot water and steam. a while after we had been there, a huge family showed up with tons of kids and we watched them play in the water. it was so funny to us that we were swimming in this hot river in Costa Rica with all of these kids and their families. i would rather find the local swimming hole than the resort with all the tourists any day! the next day we got up and took a "jeep" (it was like a mini van- but they call it a jeep because the roads you are on are so bad) then a boat ride, then another "jeep" to
the town of Monteverde. more than anything i enjoyed the 2 hour drive, and getting to see the country and how the people here live. the landscape is amazing. once we got to Monteverde we walked on hanging bridges through the rainforest. we spent the night in our hostel playing poker with a bag of beans and an Australian guy, an Israeli girl, and a guy from Ecuador that were staying at the hostel too. i don't know that i've ever played such an interesting game. the whole time we were all explaining rules and talking in Spanish and English and a ton of Spanglish, all trying to communicate with one another. this was enough to round off of the randomness of the weekend! the next day we started our 5 hr. trek back to San Jose. the motto for Costa Rica is "Pura Vida" (pure life). after this weekend i completely understand why!
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