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Costa
Rica Adventure
March 5-20, 2005
Another early wake-up as we
prepared to leave Rara Avis the same way we came. After breakfast, we pulled
on our socks and boots, loaded our bags onto the tractor, and began our hike
down. Unfortunately, our uncanny luck weather-wise had run out, and it was
pouring rain. Unfazed, we pulled on our rain ponchos and headed out onto the
muddy, slippery trail. The hiking was even more
challenging in the rain than it had been the previous day. Most of the rocks
were too slippery to walk on, so we stuck to the mud and the branches as much
as possible. Despite careful footing, most of us fell a few times. When we finally
made it down to El Plastico – the hotel about an hour down – we were entirely
covered in mud. Cathy had been hiking
up ahead of me, and she was convinced she would have dibs on the first shower
when we arrived in La Fortuna because she’d fallen twice. Until I told her
that I’d actually beat her; I’d fallen three times.
Covered in mud from the hike down from Rara Avis (Photo credit: CD) Soaked and muddy, we climbed
onto the tractor for the rest of the ride down. Of course, as soon as we did so,
it stopped raining and the sun came out. Hard to complain when we’d been so
lucky up until then, of course, but it did strike me as more than a little
ironic. The tractor had a much easier
time going down the rocks than up the rocks, being helped by gravity and
whatnot. We made it down to the base lodge by mid-morning, and returned our
soaked, muddy, blister-inducing rubber boots gratefully. After a quick
clothing change in the bathroom to remove the worst of the muddy items, we
picked up the bags we’d left at the base and piled into a van for our drive
to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a small town
located near the base of the Arenal volcano, which is active. On a clear day,
it’s possible to see the volcano emitting lava and ash. But we quickly
discovered that the “clear day” is a myth: the peak of Arenal is generally
covered by clouds. We had a nice view of it from our hotel room, though. Arriving in La Fortuna was
like rediscovering civilization. The town had phones, restaurants, shops,
internet… I hated to admit it but I was grateful. Since we would be staying
for three nights, we took much-needed showers, settled in and even unpacked a
little before going for some excellent lunch at a restaurant just down the
road. La Fortuna was also the first
place on our tour that was squarely “on the beaten tourist track”. This was
obvious in a few ways. First of all, everything was pricier than it had been
until then. Second, companies advertising adventure tours were located every
ten feet. La Fortuna is a good base for all sorts of adventure activities. We
considered our options and decided to book a trip to the hot springs, a
whitewater rafting trip, a volcano view hike, and a horseback ride to the
nearby waterfall. We opted to spend the
afternoon exploring La Fortuna. First order of business was finding an
Internet café, which we had yet to do on the trip. I dashed a quick e-mail
off to my friends and relatives. Then, we found a great coffee shop, and
indulged in some sinfully good coffee concoctions.
Cathy enjoying her rainforest coffee in La Fortuna (Photo credit: SHS) Bruised and sore from the
tractor rides, muddy hikes and other adventures, we decided that a bit of
pampering seemed like a great idea. A trip to the hot springs was just the
thing. There are two main hot spring resorts in the Arenal area. Tabacon is
the better-known one and is more expensive. Most of us chose to go to the
Baldi hot springs instead. We had a great time exploring
the hot springs. Baldi has a bunch of different man-made pools, each with a
different temperature ranging from pleasantly warm to very hot. There was
even a bar inside the pool, where you could sit on a bar stool and soak in
the water while sipping a pina
colada. Unfortunately my underwater camera photos didn’t come out since we
were there at night and the camera had no flash, but the pool bar was very
cool.
Baldi Termae hot springs and resort (Photo credit: GoVisitCostaRica.co.cr) The hot springs are a popular
tourist attraction and the pools were crowded with people. We met some guys
from England who were traveling with an Intrepid group and spent some time
chatting. The hot springs were very resort-y, but the warm water was
soothing. Spa services were offered as well; though we didn’t partake, we had
a good laugh at the advertised mud wrap, especially after our self-induced
“mud wrap” from that morning’s hike. After a few hours at Baldi, we
were relaxed and very sleepy, so we headed back to the hotel and went to
sleep. Next: Whitewater kayaking on Rio Arenal. |
