Arenal Weekend

This weekend our group had the wonderful opportunity to visit Arenal. The Arenal Volcano is located in the province of Alajuela near La Fortuna. Until 2010, the Volcano was the most active in Costa Rica. It began erupting in 1968 after 400 years of inactivity and continued until 2010. Due to geothermal activity beneath Arenal, the volcano has heated hot springs surrounding it. We were lucky to experience these hot springs in the area we stayed.

We left for Arenal on Friday afternoon and after about 4 hours we arrived at our hotel, Arenal Paraiso. We all settled in our rustic-looking cabins spread out with close proximity to their hot springs. Even though it was cloudy and a little rainy we explored the hot springs area and got excited for the weekend. For dinner we went into the nearby town of La Fortuna where most of us enjoyed typical Costa Rican meals with fruit for appetizers and tres leches for dessert. After dinner we headed back to the hotel where many of us spent time hanging out in the cabins with each other. The next morning we slept in until about 8am and headed to breakfast to start our day. When we woke up we were surprised to see the Volcano from our window! It was sunny and clear and you could see it and the smoke perfectly in the distance. Only then did we realize just how close we were to the volcano.

La Fortuna Waterfall

Our first stop of the day was La Fortuna Waterfall. It was a super steep hike down to the waterfall; luckily we were all prepared and filled with excitement as we made our way down. Once we reached the bottom we could not wait to jump in and swim in the waterfall! We swam and relaxed for about an hour before we made the trek back up to the top. Then we headed back to La Fortuna for lunch; whereas I chose to eat a vegetarian casado some of my classmates were happy to enjoy an American style burger. After lunch we made a quick stop back at the hotel and then headed to Baldi, about 10 minutes away, to enjoy their hot springs. We spent over two hours relaxing in the various hot springs and experiencing the Wet Bar. It is crazy how  hot the water gets from geothermal heat. Some of us were switching from the hot springs to the cooler pools to keep from over heating. After a relaxing day we had dinner at Baldi altogether and then headed back to our hotel. We were all spending time together when we heard the noise of music in the distance. We followed the music down the road and encountered a family party of Ticos. Although we were obviously tourists just exploring, the family welcomed us to dance and talk. There was about 20 of them all just dancing and celebrating two birthdays. They lived in a very small place and they were super friendly. One of the younger kids told me they had lived there for 15 years. Many of us were shocked at how friendly and welcoming they were. In our culture we are definitely not used to people having foreign strangers come into their homes. For the most part people here are more laid back, easy going, family oriented and have a unique ability to enjoy their lives no matter how much they have.

Aside from enjoying more of the beautiful nature of Costa Rica, this weekend we had the opportunity to experience more of the culture of Ticos. The saying "Pura Vida" has become apparent as we have seen how people here are so full of life. 

Arenal Volcano in the distance