Arenal - also known as "do we really want to sell out for air conditioning and a pool?"

The answer to that question was a yes. An emphatic yes.

This last weekend, Stanley and I headed off to Arenal to have some rest and relaxation. For some reason, week 3 had been a little more stressful than the rest, and we were excited to have some chill down time. You know, look at a volcano, visit some hot springs, the usual stuff.

Because of the desire to have a relaxed weekend, combined with the fact that I wasn't feeling too hot the previous week, we managed to end up going, just the two of us, which turned out to be really nice for several reasons.

The first reason being we ended up having to take a day off work to go - something that's hard to do with a large group of people. Because of how the bus schedule works, there are no afternoon buses that go from San Jose to Arenal. The past few weekends it's always been: get off work at noon, catch a bus between 2-3. Unfortunately, the only buses left at 6:15, 8:40, and 11:45. So instead of leaving Friday afternoon we left early Saturday morning with the plan to come back Monday afternoon, meaning we wouldn't be rushed and would really be able to kick back and relax. We cleared it with our projects and Maximo and we were set.

The second reason this was really nice was this place:

Luigi's Hotel/Casino/Restaurant/Bar/Discotheque. Yeah, we stayed here.

Don't judge. As usual, we got off the bus and the first thing on our to-do list was find a hostel. We had scoped it out before and while there were cheaper options, upon viewing them - and realizing just how awful and sticky it was there - we decided we'd splurge a little. We had budgeted $14 a night if we wanted to stay at the Arenal Backpacker's Hostel which was our back-up place and had a pool. However, a lot of people we knew from Maximo were going to stay there, and while we love them we wanted to be able to just veg and exist as opposed to running around and doing activities with everyone. So instead, we stayed at the above mentioned place for $25 a night. Not per person, that's per room. So Stanley and I, instead of paying $14 a night for a bed in a giant dorm room, ended up paying $12.50 a night for our own private room that - and this is what sold is in the end - had air-conditioning!!! The pool was a fun perk, but we didn't end up using it all that often as it was dominated by loud, splashing 3-12 year olds a majority of the time. However, the A/C? Oh...we more than got our money's worth on that!!

So after finding this gem of a place (which was a fluke, really. We were looking at a cartoon map of the city and some random guy comes up and asks what we're looking for. We tell him we're looking at hostel's and he's like "this place is nice." SPIRIT GUIDES!!!) we do our typical thing: buy lunch supplies and figure out what we want to do on this trip. There were 3 things we really wanted to do in La Fortuna/Arenal. 1) see a waterfall, preferably the waterfall. 2) see the volcano. And 3) go to the hot springs that existed because of the volcano. So on our way to and from the grocery store (where I discovered and fed my ridiculous love of Tang) we discussed various options for tours, finally deciding on doing the lazy one - meaning the one where we hiked as little as possible. While we weren't able to see the big waterfall - which had lost some of it's allure when we realized we couldn't really swim there - and we weren't going to a hot spring resort, we were going to the river where the hot springs got their water from, walking on hanging bridges, seeing a smaller waterfall that you could swim at, and getting to see the volcano, all with a guided tour. Also, the guy we booked it with told us about a free local watering hole where the ticos went to go swimming and cliff-diving, plus it had a Tarzan swing.

With all this information in mind, we sat out by the pool reading for a while before finally deciding to head out for dinner. While I can't remember the name of the soda we went to, we had seen it in Lonely Planet and were very excited to go. When we got there we were a little stressed. As server's we can tell when the wait staff is a little over their head, and trust me, this chica was. She was serving probably 30 people - and she was the only one. However, she was super nice and was effective in that she took our orders and made our delicious fruit smoothies. So while we had something to sip on, we were still waiting a while for our food. We've learned to bring playing cards with us during these experiences, but in the hustle to leave the blissfully cool hotel room, we had forgotten. Instead, we were armed only with my camera, which we put to good use:

Yeah...this happened. Instead of sitting there awkwardly like most people would do, we took various pictures of ourselves, going back and forth, portraying different emotions or experiences. 10 points if you can name 1/2 of what these photos are.

Don't worry, we also built things with the ketchup and mayo packets. Like a little "log cabin." Finally though, the food arrived, and it was divine. Definitely one of the better choices we have made. Stanley had bleu chicken and I had nachos con pollo y carne. By the time we left we were happy fat kids once more.

The next day dawned bright and early, and after a breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we decided to head out and find the local watering hole. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, though it was a bit longer on the way there and we were trying to find it. However, once we saw it, we knew we had made a good choice.

The local watering hole as seen from above

It actually was that beautiful!

We got there around 10 am, and the only other people there were 2 American girls and 2 ticos who clearly came here a lot. They were climbing and diving. So Stanley and I had to join in.

Stanley posing as he lets go of the Tarzan swing

Jumping into the waterfall. Don't even worry about it, guess who forgot their actual swim suit and board shorts? That's right, THIS guy!! Luckily I had stuff for less intense swimming that made due...

This little dog was legit.

So, story time. You'd think with all the dogs running around like crazy, people would be less likely to let their dogs run amok for fear of them running off. Not so. Rather, I think they're so careless with them because if they do run off or get hurt they can readily find a replacement. Take this dog, for instance. Around 11:30 or so, these 4 teenage ticos showed up with this little puppy in tow. They quickly shed their over garments and ran - literally - across the rocks and dove in like pros, leaving this white little dog to sort of scitter around. I had already had to rescue a little dog who was stuck on a rock in the river and was not liking how this dog was poking around the very edges of the cliff with a tumultuous river 10 or 15 feet below.

At first, when one of the boys came back to grab the puppy, I felt relief. They were going to take him to the bottom of the river bank where he could splash in the puddles and enjoy himself. However, instead of carrying him down, the boy does just what this picture shows. He lowered the pup down to a lower cliff, wagged a stick in front of its face, and then threw the stick in the water. When the pup didn't immediately follow the stick, having lost it in the turning of the waterfall, the boy took the puppy and threw him in the river! Not going to lie, I freaked out a little bit. However, the dog resurfaced, stick in tow, and paddled his little way over to the bank where he continued to skitter around the rocks as nimbly as his human counterparts.

Necessary Chaco picture

Stanley mid-back-flip off one of the cliffs

We splashed around until 12:30 or so before we decided we needed to start heading back to our hotel to get ready for our tour. So, happy and soaking, we took our leave of the, now busy, swimming hole.

Along the way, we saw the most beautiful tree! It looked more like it belonged on some African nature documentary than in the middle of a Costa Rican field, but it was beautiful, nonetheless.

So, after a quick lunch on the floor of our deliciously chilly hotel room, we walked down to the hotel lobby to wait for our shuttle that would take us on the tour. After picking up a few more people, our 10 passenger van was filled to the brim and we took off towards the cloud shrouded volcano. At the entrance of the park though, our tour guide and driver, Luis, pulled off to the side and could be seen climbing a tree. We had no idea what was going on until he showed up with this little gem.

Obviously, I was not pleased. Cuz here's the thing, I'm okay with bugs as long as I know they won't touch me. So like on a documentary or something. However, when they're free ranging all up in my business I immediately start imagining how it could fly at my face and how I would freak out and probably kill it or it could kill me. Those are the only two options. Stanley, however, was a bit more brave...

That is, until Luis decided to make the bug move...

...then Stanley lost his cool a little bit. I was lucky enough to take a picture at just the right moment.

So after Luis put the bug back into the tree we headed up to the official observatory platform where we got our first looks of the volcano and the lake, which we promptly decided was where Hogwarts was actually located.

You can almost see the Hogwarts Express coming around that bend...

Necessary tourist photo in front of the shrouded volcano

After a little while there we hiked into the cloud forest - which is the same cloud forest we trekked into when we were at Monteverde, just the opposite side - heading towards a waterfall. Along the way, Luis pointed nature things out like the Citronella plant and sugar cane leaves. Overall, it was a super nice hike and we started talking with our fellow tourists, who were actually 3 couples and 2 other girls. All of us were excited for the falls, mostly because while there we would do impromptu facials with the volcanic and ash rich mud that all the expensive spas were using. And it was just as entertaining as it sounded.

Stanley and I did war-paint, naturally

The waterfall itself was fairly fun, though was a little underwhelming after our original watering hole. We were only there for a little while before hiking back around and playing on some of the hanging bridges. While there, Luis gave us a little history of the area, including how Arenal had been the most active volcano in all of Central America, and, up until 5 months ago, could be seen to be spitting lava almost every day since 1968. It was interesting and wonderful to hear it from a native of the area. After the mini-less though, we continued to hiked back to the observation deck to watch the sun set. It was a little sad as well as the clouds had moved in full force, but the pinkness that peeked out was truly beautiful.

After being fodder for mosquitoes we loaded into the van again to head for our last thing - the hot spring river. However, along the way, Luis had promised to stop and show us some frogs. His favorite frog was this little guy, affectionately known in Costa Rica as the marijuana frog because of its red eyes.

My new best friend

The frog jumped from Stanley's hand into his hair, making him the most photographed person on Facebook.

Stanley told me he'd get me one of these guys for Christmas. However, if he fails, it's up for grabs!

After replacing the frogs we made it to the hot river. It was amazing, the water was only slightly cooler than a hot tub, meaning you could spend more time in it without feeling queasy. Plus, the currents were nice and since it was outside there was a wonderful amount of steam coming off the top. It was a little crowded, but so nice and relaxing. We spent time just sitting in the depths, laying in the current - fighting against it as it tried to pull us downstream - and, my personal favorite, sitting just under the waterfall so it served as a massage. It was the perfect ending to our tour.

So, calm and relaxed, we loaded back in the van to be dropped off back at our hotel. By this point, the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were seeming like a really long time ago. We had already decided the day before where we'd go and Stanley had even decided what he was going to eat - pizza. And let me tell you, it was some good pizza, loaded down with greasy cheddar cheese. I had a cheeseburger and fries and we split, making it one of the most American meals that we'd had. Especially considering we went and bought some ice cream to share afterwards as well. So, there we sat, watching the only English channel on our TV, eating ice cream on one of our beds in the hotel room while the A.C. pumped happiness into our room, exhausted from a day of fun activity and good food. Needless to say, as soon as the ice cream was gone bed came soon after.

The next day was the day we were to head home. We had purchased tickets for the 2:45 bus ride home, but we needed to check out of our hotel by 12. We had thought we might go back to the watering hole that morning before leaving, but our sore bodies told us the amount of body-flopping had taken its toll and decided to just chill at the hotel. It started raining around 9:30, so we just read and laid around before packing everything up.

Right after check out we looked at our bus tickets and it turned out we had somehow - most likely the person purchasing the tickets had heard us incorrectly - bought tickets for the 12:45 bus instead, which suited us fine! After a brief stop at the grocery store to buy some more Tang and a roll from a little panderia, we were getting on the bus. At that moment, Arenal decided to expose itself more than it had the entire trip. Luckily, cameras were readily available and we managed to snap one more picture before the bus pulled away...

Until next weekend!

Toodles!

-Jillian