La Fortuna

Oh and when we rose in La Fortuna!

Something as majestic as that outside your window when you first open your eyes… Kelly and I were so dazzled we forgot about coffee for awhile and just stared.

But not for long, as we had an all day tour booked with @jacamarnaturalist. We enjoyed an in room coffee followed by the breakfast included with our stay, and then headed to the front of the property to await Jose, who picked us up promptly at 0800 in an air conditioned van. Jose is a naturalist and has been giving tours in Costa Rica for over 30 years. Costa Rica requires tour guides to be trained extensively, so we were excited to listen to someone knowledgeable tell us all about his country. He found the first sloth on our drive.

The drive to Mystico Arenal hanging bridges park took us across the dam that created Lake Arenal, which is a major source of water for Nicaragua and an engineering feat. Created entirely of lava stone, it is resistant to the frequent tremors felt here, and merely settled more securely into place whenever there happened to be an earthquake.

The hanging bridges park was fantastic, and being as Costa Rica had only recently reopened to travel due to covid, there were hardly any people there. Walking through the canopy presents many wonders you can’t see from the ground of the jungle, which almost seems to be an entirely different biome.

We were treated to a professor and his assistant researching bugs at the top of a tree, who gave us a little lesson in the sky. Jose explained all about the local flora and fauna as we progressed, and carried a birding lens for us to use when he found something particularly interesting.

Pic

Afterwards, it was on to the next sight- La Fortuna falls. It required some climbing- some 500 steps- so be prepared to climb!

After a lovely lunch provided by the tour company at their compound, we headed out to the west side of Arenal for our hike at the base of the volcano- under threatening skies. Nature did not fail to give us a show, as it absolutely poured on us. Late afternoon showers are a pretty frequent phenomenon here, so be prepared with rain gear. Kelly and I bought inexpensive plastic ponchos at a local supermarket, and they worked quite well, although our feet were soaked.

We hardly even saw the volcano, but Jose explained the local geography and pointed out just where the lahar flowed, and gave testimony to the event garnered from his father.

We were good and wet and tired when we returned, so after dinner we headed for the mineral hot springs on the property and had a soak under another downpour to relax our muscles. Tomorrow we head for Monte Verde!