Rain Never Goes Away

Since our tour of Arenal was not until 2pm, the five amigas got to sleep in! We all felt very well rested and had a lazy morning. We played cards outside and got pizza next door for lunch. Something I notice very intensely here in La Fortuna is just how touristy it is. Every restaurant has everything in spanish and in english. There are souvenir shops everywhere and everything is pretty expensive. While it was fun seeing a new place, all of us agreed that it made us miss San Jose. In San Jose, you really feel like you are a part of the culture, whereas here, you feel like you are just looking in.

When we got back from our pizza meal, we met our new roommate, Nicole, who was traveling around the world after a tough divorce. She was extremely nice and decided to go on our tour with us. We all headed to Red Lava Tour Company together and signed her up. A twenty person tour bus picked us up and after picking up a few more people on the way, we were off. On our way, we apparently saw two slothes, but I was only able to spot one. As we were driving to Arenal, we got bombarded by a thunderstorm. Just like in Drake Bay, we had to ford a river. This river was definitely much stronger than the one in Drake Bay but we successfully made it across. We arrived at a small building, which was the start of our tour. I bought a poncho because at this point, the storm had picked up. Thank goodness I bought a waterproof camera.

We split up into a few groups for the tours and headed off into the jungle. We had to cross bridges and walk up and down hills. I didn't mind the rain, it actually made it really fun. It did kind of bother me that most paths were paved. It was hard to feel like you were really exploring the jungle when there were man made paths everywhere. Our guide pointed out lots of different plants to us and told us their functions. Some smelled amazing and were mosquito repellants, while others held fresh drinking water. It was very helpful, just in case I ever get stuck in the jungle.

After a little while, we arrived at the waterfall. Because of the rain, the water was very brown and powerful so it wasn't safe to swim in. But it was fun looking at it with everyone. Later, we also supposedly were looking at three volcanos, but the storm created fog, which blocked our view. Regardless, it was a really fun tour. When we finished our walk, which took about three hours, we headed back to the bus which took us to the hot springs. On our way there, we got stuck at the river, which had gotten much higher and stronger. We had to wait a little while and then we attempted to cross. You could feel the strength of the river pushing you every which way. Everyone on the bus was nervous and once we made it across, everyone exploded into applause.

When we got to the hot springs, the rain had calmed down so they were safe to be in. We all rain through the dark forest down the path. I used my camera flash to light the way as best I could. We safely arrived and all slid into the hot water. There were small waterfalls around and it was really beautiful and relaxing. Some of the guides put volcanic ash on people's faces, which is an exfoliant. It felt really good and I could feel my skin opening up. Some of my roommates and I also went underneath the waterfall to some tiny caves, which was very exciting. It was a really lovely way to end the tour, especially after getting so cold and wet on our tour.

We took the bus back to our hostel and all took a hot shower. We were all pretty hungry from the long tour (which ended up being about seven hours). We found a cute restaurant across the street and I got an amazing pasta dish. We had a great time, and found some other volunteers from Maximo Nivel. After a nice long meal, we all headed back to our respective hostels, since we were all so exhausted and full. The roommates and I all head back to San Jose tomorrow and we can't wait to get home.