We got to the hostel and checked in. It was about 8:15 here but our bodies were adjusted to European time which was about 3:00 am. I really wasn't tired, but I knew my body would wake up at its normal time so I went to bed. Speaking of the bed--it was not made when we got there. So we had to get the woman to get us sheets. As you can see it wasn't a 4 star hotel. The rooms were clean, at least.
January 9, 2004
I organized my stuff. I was leaving some stuff behind at the hostel so I didn't have to carry it all. Laurie and I both had everything packed and we left the hostel about 7:15. We were in search for the tourist information office. We got there early so we went to get something to eat.
When we went back to the tourist information office, we found out it had moved. We had a little trouble finding the right place, but finally found it. People are so nice and helpful here. They helped us find it. The man at the tourist office was also friendly and helpful. They seem to go out of the way to please you.
We decided to make some reservations for places to stay because it was the busy season. So we had to buy a phone card. The man at the tourist office told us what man to go to for cheap phone cards.
Our reservations were made, so we had sometime before we had to catch the bus. I saw an internet place so I stopped just to see if I had messages and let people know I arrived. I am kind of surprised at how up to date it seems around here. I expected it to be a little more behind the times than it was, maybe because it is a tourist city.
We walked to the bus and bought our ticket. We met a man named Bill from Texas. He was also going to Fortuna.
The bus was a long ride. It was hard to read because it was a bumpy ride. The bus was overcrowded. The man that rides and collects the tickets made sure to get every possible space in the aisle used. I felt bad that people had to stand for so long. The first leg of the ride was 4 hours. We stopped at San Carlos. Most of the people got off there.
We had a short break there. As I got off I noticed that someone had been sick. I felt pretty bad about that. It certainly isn't fun getting sick, especially all around people.
The second leg was about 1 1/2 hours. The scenery was really pretty. Everything is so green and lush. They grow a lot of things but I have no idea as to what it is.
We checked into our room at the Cabinas Sissy. I felt like I was in Nepal at a teahouse. Bill, Laurie, and I walked into town to check things out and to buy groceries. I picked up macaroni and cheese for dinner.
After I ate I went to bed. I am still getting use to the time change. I also acquired a cold along the way, so I thought some rest would be good.
January 10, 2004
Laurie and I got up early to use the kitchen, but it wasn't open yet. We wanted to leave early because we were doing a hike to a waterfall. We wanted to leave at 7:00, but couldn't leave until 7:30.
Bill came with us. Most of the walk was on a dirt road, uphill. We saw some unusual birds and bird nests. The nests hung from a tree like sacs. When we looked through the binoculars the birds were a lot bigger than we had thought.
We got to Catarato Fortuna for the waterfall. There was a fee. As soon as we paid it, it started to rain. We waited a little bit under some cover. When it let up we walked to the waterfall. It was a longer walk than I expected. It was downhill and narrow. People go swimming down there and the water is suppose to be quite cold. I didn't feel like getting wet, because I knew later I was going to go to the hot springs. We saw some birds that looked like toucans and some other pretty looking birds. It was nice to hear them chirping, especially since they make different sounds then the ones at home.
We stayed for a short while and then walked back up. It felt good to hike up and get my heart pumping. I haven't been doing anything strenuous in a while.
By the time we got back it was 11:30. We were wet because it kept raining off and on. I guess that is what you get when you are in a rain forest.
I read for awhile and then napped. I got up to get ready for our outing. We were going on a hike close to the Arenal Volcano and then we were going to go to the hot springs of Tabacon.
The driver picked us up later. We expected more people, but I guess they cancelled because of the rain. Alberto was our guide. He was great. He knew and explained a lot about the forest and the trees. He tried to get the spider monkeys to come out, but they didn't because it was raining. He did get a tarantula to come out of his hole. It was so cool. We saw a bunch of wild turkeys. I guess at night they sleep high in the trees. They start on lower branches and fly up to a branch a little higher up until they are high enough. Alberto did a great job--Unfortunately we didn't get to see the volcano. Alberto said that it is rarely ever clear enough to see it.
When we finished the hike we were taken to the hot springs. There are a bunch of hot spring spas around. The one we went to had the hottest being 183 degrees F. That was burning. There was a bar in one of the pools. It was a neat place. It is open up top so that you can feel the rain when it rains. The hot springs are from the thermal springs from one river. It felt good, but I couldn't stay there forever.
Our van picked us up at 8:00 and brought us back to our room. It was a great day.
January 11, 2004
Our van came for us at 8:30. We were going to Monteverde today. Originally we were going to take two buses and 8 hours to get there. Instead we did this car-boat-car trip and it only took 2 1/2 hours.
