Arenal Volcano

After our wonderful week in Manuel Antonio we headed back to San José (technically San Pedro) to start our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) class.  We also moved into our apartment there in San Pedro, only about 4 blocks from our school.  Class was great, our teacher Iani is from Namibia and has a great point of view and tons of TEFL experience to share.  Our 16 classmates were from all over the US, from the Bay Area to Boston, and everywhere in between!  Luckily, our class was heavier workload wise in the last three weeks so we were able to take another trip that first weekend!  So Erin and I ventured to La Fortuna, Costa Rica to see Arenal Volcano.

The pool at our Hostel

View of the Voclano

When we got off the bus (which we got on at 6am by the way) in La Fortuna we were immediatly approached by tour guides, "You need bus tickets, back?" "Volcano tours?" "Hot springs, you want to go to the hot springs?"  which was a little in your face but actually very helpful because, in fact, we did need bus tickets back and we also wanted to see the volcano and the hot springs!  So we got all set up for our tour and the tour guide guy even dropped us off at our hostel.  Yup, I said hostel.  Our first experience sharing a room with 6 strangers!  The hostel was really pretty though, it had a great view of the volcano and had a beautiful pool and hammocks and a bar!

I found a hammock!

It was a little interesting because when we got in our room there was stuff by most of the beds already, but no people to go with it.   So we kind of had to guess which beds were free and claim those.  Pretty soon we had to go though, so we grabbed a beer at the bar and were off for our volcano/waterfall/hot springs tour before we got a chance to meet our roommates for the night.  It's an interesting feeling knowing that 6 other people will be sleeping in the same room with you and you have no idea who they are!  But we just went with it and were off on our way to Arenal.

The first part of our tour was a little info session about Arenal Volcano.  We got to go to this hotel/resort that is literally right at the base of the volcano and sat out on the observation deck while we learned about the volcano's history.  ONE year ago, that's right in about October of 2010 the volcano was still continuously active.  It is still considered an active volcano, but a year ago there was lava flow and volcano gasses erupting every 10-15 minutes.  It was one of the most regularly active volcanoes on Earth.  We were kinda bummed that it wasn't still that way, I guess we should have gotten our acts together and come to Costa Rica a year earlier!  But it was still beautiful to see the huge volcano, you could see where the trails of lava had fallen down the mountain side, and it was kind of a cloudy day so the mist covering the very top of the volcano gave it an eerie mysterious feeling.

There's an owl behind me!

They have some really awesome plants here.

Next on our tour was a hike through the jungle around the base of the volcano.  It was an awesome hike, and it was so nice to be back in the green Costa Rican jungle again after a week in a classroom in San José!  (Don't get me wrong I loved the TEFL program but I have to admit I love the jungle more!)  On our hike we got to see several more monkeys, a few different jungle lizards, a toucan, and (to my delight) a Spectacled Owl!   We saw a real live Costa Rican Owl!  Woooo! I was a little excited.  It was daytime of course so he was sleeping but he's there in the picture!  Miraculous :)

Elephant Ear Leaf!  

the ruffie flower, so pretty right?

I actually learned a lot on our hiking tour through the jungle.  I learned that the aloe-looking plants on all the trees (literally growing on the trees) are Bromilia, and are very important as they collect rain water and that's where all the cute little monkeys drink from so they don't have to go all the way down to the ground!  I also learned that Costa Rica has a plant with a flower that when made into tea is basically a ruffie, and can knock you out in minutes flat (but it's actually a very beautiful flower!).  I also learned that our guide can make a sound like a howler monkey and monkeys often make the sound back, but not in a nice, 'hey how ya doin' kind of way, probably more of a 'stay the hell away from my tree' kind of way, and that if a monkey ever ties to climb directly over you, move.  This probably means he is getting ready to poop on you! (Don't worry I did NOT learn these things from experience, it's just what the guide told us, although he did really make the howler monkey sound!)  It was a very informative hike!

See that hollow rail?  Sneaky.

The next stop on our tour was a waterfall!  On the hike down to the waterfall there are these rails, I assume so you don't fall down the side of the mountain, but these rails happen to be hollow tubes which (another interesting fact I learned on this tour) when blown through make a sound remarkably like an elephant trumpet.  Sounds cool right?  Well it's probably cooler if you are expecting it. I came around the corner near the end of the group and was the lucky winner of a surprise that almost did make me fall off the mountain!  Let's just say I was a little startled!  But I survived and made it down to the waterfall anyway.  And the waterfall was spectacular!  The guide said normally you can get in the pool at the bottom and swim there but there had been so much rain lately that the waterfall was on turbo mode and going way too fast that day!


So we climbed down to the bottom but stayed on the rocks and didn't venture in the water there, which we didn't mind so much because the water was pretty cold.  After the waterfall we made our way back on the jungle trail and it was getting dark so we got to go back to the observation deck and watch the sunset over the lake by the volcano. It was so peaceful and beautiful :)



After the sunset we were on our way to the hot springs.  On the way though, we pulled over and our guide found a tree frog for us to visit with!  He was the epitome of a tree frog.  Red eyes, bright green, orange sticky toes, he was awesome!  (and actually very calm, I have a suspicion that he may be working for the tour guide or something because he was very well behaved!)

The main Park in La Fortuna

Next came the hot springs.  I don't have any pictures of this (so I'll throw in some random Costa Rica beauty pics) because my camera is not waterproof and we were literally sitting in a hot river, but it was probably the most amazing part of the day.  It started out a little alarming because our group just got out of the bus wearing only swim suits and started walking down the side of the road.  The our guide told us to climb down the path to the water.  This whole time it's pitch black out and we only have a couple head lamps between the group to light our way.




Once we get down there we reach this pool and we all assume that's where we're getting in but no, our guide shows us to the big concrete tunnel that goes under the road.  Maybe it's the herd mentality but we all decide, sure let's walk down this dark sketchy tunnel together, with water rushing by our feet, we'll be okay right?  Well luckily we were right and all made it through safely.  Once at the other end we came to some rocks that were making a little dam in the river, crawled over them and were in a natural pool.  That was hot.  It was amazing.  Just out in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle in a hot river.  Totally normal.

We got to relax there for a little while, and turned off all the lamps for a couple minutes and just enjoyed the water.  I think I almost fell asleep at this point because it was so relaxing.  After a while we made our way back to the infamous tunnel, and I thought we had to leave at that point.  To my surprise our guide sits down in the rushing water in the tunnel and says, "watch me" and launches himself down the tunnel like a water slide!  Again, we all question our judgement here but proceed to follow suit anyway.  It was totally awesome!  As I neared the end of the tunnel I was water sliding through, I could see the guide standing there saying, "give me your hand."

He did not help you up though, instead he hurled you over the waterfall he was standing next to into a another pool about five feet below.  That was a surprise!  Once our whole group had been thrown over the edge there he explained to us that if you swim under the waterfall you'll come up in a little cave.  So we did.  It was pretty cool, but also pretty hot and smelly under there so we didn't stay long.  Back out in the fresh air we took in the sights for a little while.  This part of the river had a great ambiance.  It was a large pool area, and was dark except for one candle that had been set in the rock-face on the side of the river.

Erin and I found a comfy spot to stay for a little bit, just at the edge of the next part of the river that got more rapid and looked too perilous to venture into.  However, before I knew it that's exactly where our guide was taking us.  He told us, "use your butt" and he nimbly crawled over the rocks and white water in the river, so the rest of us (much less gracefully and much more cautiously) followed along.  Then we knew why we had risked our lives to brave the rapids.  We came to a natural jacuzzi.  The rapids came to another mini waterfall, and this one was strong.  It made the water in the small pool below it swirl like jacuzzi jets and the water there was extra hot!  Definitely worth the climb down there.  After a while in the jacuzzi we (carefully) made our way back up the rapids and out of the river.  Looking back I can't believe we just went along with the guide and did everything we did, from willingly being hurled over a waterfall, or climbing through river rapids in the dark, and Erin doing that without shoes on, but I'm definitely glad we did.  It was an experience I'll never forget!


After our Hot Spring River adventure we got back to our hostel and finally met our roommates.  We learned that one of them had actually done the volunteer program at Máximo Nivel, the school in San Pedro where our TEFL program is, about 6 months before!  He knew all about the class we were in and said that since it only gets harder after the first week we had to go out with all of them and party in Costa Rica while we still could.  So out we went.  Fun fact - in La Fortuna at the Stable Bar your cover fee of 3,000 colones (about $6) gets you in the bar and comes with a tequila shot! (and if you ask for an extra they will absolutely give it to you ;)  woooo!)

We had a great time there, even though we were exhausted, but it was great to hang out and dance with the locals.  I wish we had some pictures but we didn't take a camera with us that night, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  To our hostel roommates if you ever come across this blog, thanks for a great night!