Days 5 and 6 La Fortuna-Arenal
We depart from Monteverde after breakfast on Saturday morning and have a lovely drive down the mountain passing through completely different scenery once again. The trip is under 2 hours to our destination and that includes a couple of stops to look at a coffee plantation and view a gold mine from the distance as well as checking out local flora.
Did you know that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia by goat herders who discovered that the goats were grazing on plants and that they just weren't sleeping at night?
Coffee flowers, pods and beans
The coffee pickers harvest in Costa Rica from November to January and earn $2 per basket and a good picker picks around 12 baskets a day. The pods are opened and each one contains 2 beans. The outer skin is removed from the beans and is used for coffee candy then the beans are sacked and transported for sale. The pods are soaked in water and the fluid is used as a liquid fertilizer for the coffee plants. You won't find coffee growing under 800 meters and will grow up to 2000 m above sea level ( I am thinking feet but the group said the guide said meters) the higher it is grown, the more caffeine it contains. Lesson over!!!!
Coffee plantation
The gold mine looked like a lovely old farm from a distance with a beautiful river running through it. The landscape was very green with a lot of dairy cattle and quaint farm houses. A very enjoyable trip.
Goldmine
We arrive at lake Arenal where we are booked on the 10 am ferry across to the township and then a bus is to take us to La Fortuna.
We are greeted by literally thousands ( we were told 5000 in total) of mountain bike riders participating in the yearly around the lake ride. The lake is 90 square kilometers and it is a 2 day ride, with, as we discovered the overnight being in La Fortuna which had a couple of ramifications for us.
Arenals claim to fame is the amazing volcano which last had a major eruption in 1968 killing around 80 people in the town, mainly from the gases. It has had a few minor blows since then and it is illegal to climb the volcano without a certified guide. Not that I was tempted! Not long after the 1968 eruption, the government relocated the town to La Fortuna which used to be a large farm employing most of the inhabitants. The area is now mass tourism with the volcano, hot springs and the lakes utilized in an environmental way. The Costa Ricans are very proud of their environment and care for it unreservedly.
We troop across the sand, hop up a step from the beach and onto the ferry for a relaxing 40 minute trip across with ample photo opportunities of the volcano and the surrounds. We were informed that we arrived on a lucky day as the clouds cleared fora while and exposed the peak for us to photograph.
The bus picks us up and off we go to our hotel. First issue for us with the bike ride! The hotel is over booked and I don't have a room. Another couple of girls are in another hotel which by all accounts is disgusting. Eventually a room is found for me on the 3 rd floor so up I troop with my case. I discover later that Agusto our guide has relocated to another hotel and after shuffling rooms they find me an acceptable one. Trouble isI can't get in! The lock is broken, so that eventually gets fixed and I can offload my stuff and discover the balcony door doesn't lock and the balconies are open for everyone on that floor to walk across! 2 pieces of broken broom handle later and the doors are jammed into place!
Hotel is OK and it does have a hair dryer. We have all been suffering bad hair days here with the humidity, the soft water and no dryers!
There is not much to see in the town it's just hotels and a shopping strip.
After lunch we are picked up by a bus and told to wear our bathers and take a towel. We have a bus tour around the base of the volcano and this is where our second encounter with the riders occur. This ride is not well marshaled and the riders are everywhere and the spectators leave their cars where ever they feel like it. Mayhem and we are stuck in the middle of it! Eventually we escape and continue on. We take another 1 hour hike around the forest and see lots of indigenous medicinal plants and view spider and howler monkeys in the trees. Very exciting! Once again load onto the bus and out guide has in his hands a plastic bag full of clay and mud from the waterfall area that we visited on our hike. We are heading to a part of the river which is a natural hot spring bathing area with the water being heated from the volcanic activity. It is getting close to dusk now. We disrobe down to our bathers and we line up for a mud pack on our faces then are given a cup of rum with a splash of cola and ice, down that, then head into the river. Sadly we couldn't take photos as it was getting dark but also too wet for the cameras. I am kicking myself for not buying a waterproof camera. We climb over a rock ledge and sit in the water on the bigger rocks or under the little water fall that acted like a natural massage. We stayed for an hour or so sitting under the stars watching the fireflies. Magical, another b highlight. Getting back to the bus wasn't so easy but we managed to and all in one piece. Acceptable dinner in a local restaurant. In fact the food has been fine except for the cost which is causing a couple of people issues.
Sunday was a free day with everyone electing what they would do. A couple doing nothing, a couple walking down to the river for a swim in the water hole and 5 of us booked to go tubing. Now I imagined a gentle float down the river watching the scenery and life passing by. I was in for a shock! After a kilometer walk from the bus we came across the river. Instructions delivered and off we go. 2 hours later after negotiating rapids, stuck on rocks like a beached whale, fighting to get out of the river bank undergrowth and hanging onto each other for dear life dragging the other person behind you to get them off the rocks, lots of screaming and laughing we finally reached the end. It was amazing fun, my arms and back were killing me, as were all the girls. We determined that you need long arms for this activity because their is a lot of paddling required to keep in e mainstream. I do have to admit that on a couple of occasions I was rescued and the guide gave me a little tow for a while. But not the only one to take advantage of this service!
We returned to the hotel at 12.30 with an hour for a quick shower and lunch then off to the afternoons activity.
This time 7 of us fronted up for horse riding around the forest and then delivered to a spa complex on horse back where the cost included the use of the natural spa pools available.
The ride was fantastic, a little uncomfortable at times but the horses wear so lovely and well trained, so loved and cared for. The most comfortable that I have ever felt riding. After an hour we gingerly disembarked on a high ridge overlooking a beautiful lake inside one of the volcanic craters and had a little rest. The downhill ride was the hardest requiring a lot of concentration! Fantastic afternoon riding beautifully trained and cared for horses.
We are delivered back to the spa complex where the horses are stabled and make a bee line for the reception where 4 of us book in for a 40 minute massage and a mini mud pack and facial. Heaven!!! this was followed by a 2 hour soak in the thermal pools ranging from very hot to body temperature. Bliss. It is past 8 pm when we return to the hotel. A long but brilliant day. I thout I was going to fall asleep with my face in my dinner and headed back to the hotel early but the music was so loud that it took a long time to sleep. We are heading off to the beach at 9 am the next morning. A 7 hour trip in a 20 seat bus so at least I know I will be able to sleep a bit more. Looking forward to time at Puerto Viajo. We have been told there are good places to eat, out hotel is on the beach, good music and bars so expecting some fun and relaxation.
3 more sleeps until the group split and 5 of us head off to Panama with the rest doing their own thing.
Hasta Mañana!!!!!
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