23rd July 2004 - 28th July 2004
We left San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua early in the morning to catch a bus to Canas in Costa Rica via Rivas. The border crossing took forever but eventually we were through and on our way again. Having been dropped off in Canas, we took several buses to get to a place called Arenal, about an hour away from La Fortuna, our destination. It was really pouring with rain and as there were no buses heading the way we wanted to go we ended up sharing a taxi with two Canadian girls we met on the bus - Sarah and Karlie. Having found a place to stay the four of us then went to Baldi Thermae, some nearby hot springs from where there was a great view of Volcan Arenal which was the reason for our visit. The springs were amazing with several pools of varying temperatures, the hottest one being more of an endurance test! From the pools you could relax with cocktails and watch the hot, glowing lava spilling out of the top of the volcano and rolling down the sides. A really fantastic sight.
The following morning we left our two friends and went to Santa Elena, Monteverde. Having had enough of local buses, we took a scenic bus-boat-bus tour crossing Lago de Arenal. The countryside was so beautiful. Once in Santa Elena we booked ourselves on the Selvatura sky walk which took us across 8 suspension bridges high above the cloud forest. Again, the scenery was amazing.
A 5.15am wake up the following morning got us onto an early morning bus to make our way to Montezuma across the Gulf of Nicoya. The bus journey from Santa Elena was incredible as the clouds sat low in the valleys below us with the morning sun shining through. Montezuma wasn't as great as we had hoped, but we had a lovely walk along the beach watching the big powerful waves come crashing in and one lone surfer who never quite got up the courage to surf in - well, at least not while we were standing there waiting and getting eaten by mosquitos as the sun was rapidly going down!
It was then off to San Jose for one night for some fast food, internet, and the cinema, before leaving the next morning for our final destination in Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo De Talamanca, near the border with Panama. We only stayed here one night in order to rush off to Bocas Del Toro in Panama, a place which had been recommended to us by several people even when we were still in the Dominican Republic!
