La Fortuna/Arenal

December 2018

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

After taking the earliest possible flight out of Chicago (5:36am), a layover in Miami, another 2 hour flight, and a 3 hour shuttle later, we made it to La Fortuna, Costa Rica just after dark. A solid 12 hours of travel. Merry. Christmas.

We debated renting a car ourselves, but that was quickly thrown out after reading about the roads in Costa Rica. Some are ok, most are not. The route we took from Liberia airport through Arenal was rough. Extremely steep, rocky, narrow roads with turns conveniently placed along cliffs. Some turns could easily go wrong, but these guys were pros. So we let them handle it. Our driver let us stop along the way to check out the view of Lake Arenal. Arenal is a volcano, and when we asked if it was active, our driver said "no no, 8 years ago". We all looked at each other like, bruh, that’s pretty recent for a volcano!

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.”

Arenal Volcano - our view in La Fortuna as we walked up to our Hostel

La Fortuna was a cool town outside the Arenal Volcano packed with hostels, bars and shops. I think 3 days was the perfect amount of time here. We managed to raft down the river, hike through the jungle to waterfalls, check out the natural hot springs as well as the ritzy (unnatural) hot springs, and hang out with the locals under a bridge (you’ll see what I mean below) all in just 3 days. *Side Note: 1 USD is equivalent to roughly 600 “Colones”, but VISA/credit cards were accepted at most places so no need to travel with a lot of cash.

“Pura Vida” is a term we heard literaly everywhere in La Fortuna. It means “pure life” in Spanish, a Costa Rican philosophy that encourages the appreciation of life’s simple treasures. Slowing things down, celebrating good fortune, and refusing to take anything for granted. “Pura Vida” has a number of different meanings, but above all means living life to the fullest. It's used to greet people good morning, wish them luck, bid them goodbye, and show appreciation or excitement. We just kept saying it to fit in, but people seemed to be genuinely passionate when using the phrase, which was refreshing.

The most interesting thing we did, in my opinion, would be the natural hot spring. It was the end of a tour we signed up for through the jungle that included hiking to waterfalls, and so after dark they took us to the hot spring. We pulled over to the side of the road and they told us to get changed. Imagine 20-30 people standing in bathing suits on the side of the road, walking to a trail in the dark. It was so random, yet so unique. Pitch black, we found our way down through strategically placed flashlights and the sound of rushing water. The water was so warm, like a hot tub, but from a river flowing from the volcano. Our guides brought drinks and offered mud masks. The stars were so bright. It was dazzling and I was in awe.

During our rafting trip, we saw a BUNCH of iguanas the size of 8 year olds, as well as half a dozen sloths. Yes, SLOTHS. Keri was obsessed with seeing them. They were fur balls curled up high in the trees, so once we spotted the first lil' nugget, it wasn't too difficult to find his amigos. Here’s one we saw on our way to the fancy hot springs:

After rafting, the guides gave us all some cervesas (beer) to celebrate at the river. We then had lunch at what felt like a pretty authentic spot, given there were chickens, roosters, and dogs roaming around at our feet. It was called Rancho de Tata I believe. Here we had the traditional Costa Rican meal called “Cosada”. Which is basically rice, beans, plantains, salad, and your choice of meat or fish. My favorite is the plantains; we should really use those more. Check it:

"Cosada" - Traditional meal in Costa Rica

Also, not to brag, but I jumped off a sketchy rope swing into a mini waterfall/watering hole where the locals seemed to hang out. It was called "El Soto" (or something like that), and was recommended by a local chica who we struck up a conversation with. So, naturally, we blindly walked outside town for what felt like forever (about 20 minutes), until we came across this -->

The point of no return.

La Fortuna, it's been real, Pura Vida! Next stop, Jaco!