Mind of Migg

Day 4 in Costa Rica felt almost like 2 days because of how it was broken up. We woke up, packed up our things, went and had breakfast, and said goodbyes to people who were leaving. A large group of us planned to drive up to La Fortuna, next to the Arenal Volcano. Janiva didn’t mention until we arrived that it’s actually one of the most active volcanoes in the world, making it a little uncomfortable knowing that our planned hotel was next to its base.

After our morning goodbyes we did some shopping, buying some organic coffee as we checked out. We hopped on our bus and then took the hour or so drive into La Fortuna. Everyone was moving a little slowly though, so by the time everyone got checked out, figured out the shuttle situation, and finally left, we didn’t sit down for lunch in La Fortuna until nearly 2pm. I think our group of about a dozen overwhelmed the little restaurant next to the hotel a few people were staying at. It took a while for our orders to come out, but it was good food.

The shuttle dropped us off at our hotel, since it was the last one on the way, and then took everyone else to the hot springs. We were shocked at how nice our hotel was. Violet had booked online, where there’s not much description or pictures. We were mostly looking for a decent price, and the place was actually cheaper than the Holiday Inn Express next to the Denny’s and an engine rattling distance away from the airport. The hotel, Lomas del Volcan was a mile up a small dirt road and right at the base of the volcano. It was a resort style place with an open air bar and restaurant that opened to an amazing view of the volcano, and private, bungalo style rooms. I only wish we had been able to spend more time there.

We quickly changed and took a cab to meet up with everyone at the hot springs. The hot springs had a series of pools, going from one that was freezing, to lukewarm, all the way up to hot tub levels. It was so cool because it felt like they built the park around an already existing river. The river flowed down a waterfall into the top, warmest pool, and out into the river below the lowest, lukewarm pool. The guy at the front told us to make sure and switch pools regularly and not stay in any one pool for too long. There was one small pool that was boiling hot, but it was out of the way. The highest pool had the waterfall and some cool water shooting out from above, so it wasn’t bad. We spent most of our time in the lowest pool because it was easy to move back and forth from that one to the cool one.

Unfortunately, a large part of the group didn’t get to spend much time there since they were heading back to San Jose for flights the next day. We were able to stay later though, as were a couple of others who had additional travel plans. The jungle trees surrounded the hot springs, and a group of monkeys moved around above us. One of them even had a little baby on its back. It was so cool lying back in the water and watching the monkeys hop around from branch to branch.

When it started getting dark we decided it was time to go. Another couple, Anthony and Vivian, had also stayed behind so they joined us for dinner back at our hotel. Since it was dark, you couldn’t really make out the volcano in the distance, but it was still a beautiful night to have dinner on the patio.

Day 4 was so relaxing and a great way to come down from the high of the wedding and partying. We went back to our room after dinner and collapsed.