From Medellin we took two flights and a bus to La Fortuna – a little touristy town in Costa Rica. We had never really planned to spend long in CR as I was lucky enough to go a few years ago for my cousin’s wedding and it is also very expensive. We were staying at the Arenal Backpacker Resort which was a really cool hostel with a great pool and good dorm rooms. The first afternoon we got there we just chilled and swam, had a good veggie dinner in town, and booked our tour for the next day.
The 10 hour tour started at 10am the next day and we started with a two hour hike up a volcano. The hike was really beautiful taking us through lush green jungle and up to a stunning crater which was filled with teal water where we had one of the most memorable and surreal swims ever. The clouds rolled through constantly so one minute it was eerie and spooky, and the next clear and sunny. That crater lake swim was a highlight for sure. We had our packed lunch there and headed back up out of the crater and down another two hours to our next swim spot which was at an awesome waterfall. Scott did his thing and ventured behind it while I was happy just to swim. From there it was another 30 minutes to a random little museum thing that was frankly very unnecessary and then to a little frog pond where we got to see those classic red-eyed green-bodied tree frogs. To finish the tour we went to the ‘hot springs’. In my mind I was going to maybe rent a towel from these hot springs, but when we turned up it became quickly evident it wasn’t an actual establishment. We were instructed to only wear our togs so about 15 of us were walking along the road in what was now pitch black, in our togs. We followed the path off the road and under a bridge to where we found literally 50 other tourists sitting under a bridge in piping hot water surrounded by candles. It was bizarre and very cool. Our guides then came round and rubbed Costa Rican volcanic mud on our faces which i’m told sells for USD$80 for a very small pottle. They followed this with a ‘cocktail’, which was literally just vodka and Lift in plastic cups. Though the end of the tour dragged on a weeee bit, it was an awesome day and the crater swim especially made it all worth it. I finished the day exhausted, with smooth skin (no joke it actually worked), and very satisfied that we had spent our one full day in Costa Rica very well.
That night we had a quick dinner and fell asleep easily, up early the next day for our travel day to Nicaragua.
Scott and Han 