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Hey All,
We just got back yesterday at about 4pm from an excursion to La Fortuna. It's a town about 4 hours away through the mountains and at the base of a volcano, Mt. Arenal.
First to pay tribute to those that went on the trip: Heather Kuch, Jodi Fu, Hanna Wong, Erika Reese, Anna Louise, Mike Wade, Savannah Storm, Erin Vassar, Coach Megan Nation, and our director Grant Leslie.
We arrived there at about 7pm in La Fortuna, and settled into our hostel called Cerro Chato. There we had a big dinner...un burrito, about the size of a Taco Bell soft taco. Feeling unsatisfied, our fearless leader Grant took us to a "soda" to get some more food. We also stopped in a supermarket to get some "jugo de caña." When we returned to the hostel that night, we all hung out and "tomamos un poquito." We woke up at 530 on Saturday to go running with Erika Reese, Erin Vassar, and Anna Louise. We ran to the center of La Fortuna and it was great being able to see the town before it got busy. Que linda! After that, we joined the rest of the group at a full, hot breakfast. After breakfast, we got ready for the the day. First, to the Zip Line through the canopy. We harnessed up and got a brief 5-minute tutorial on how to hook into the lines. I got a special harness because of my height....just another thing due to my height since being in Costa Rica. The canopy was beautiful. There was a hike through the forest to the different lines, and plenty of flora and fauna to see. Also, several beautiful waterfalls. The longest was 980 meters long. A couple times, there was that freak out moment where you could look down and think, "what if either end breaks..." but the views trumped that feeling. On the way back to the adventure camp, we stopped at an indigenous village to learn about their culture. From there, we took horses back, and it was not like in the States. They put you on the horse and let you just go. Our director Grant drew the short stick, as he tried to ride without a fastened saddle and ended up falling into deep mud.
After lunch at another "soda" and me getting stung by a wasp, we returned to the hostel to get dressed for the rope swing next to some waterfalls. IT was a local swimming location for many "ticos." We learned from them how to jump from the rope swing, swim into a cave, and climb under one of the waterfalls. Overall, an amazing and physically exhausting experience.
After that short excursion, we prepped for Baldi Hot Springs. Since La Fortuna is at the base of a volcano, they are able to heat many pools spa-style and have various temperatures. But first, our group pretty much destroyed the all-you-can-eat buffet. I couldn't decide which was more filling: the food or the politics discussion over dinner... But after dinner, we enjoyed many hot pools, stone recliners in one of the pools, a steam room, a cold pool, and of course the waterslides that are illegal in the US. It was very refreshing.
That night, we had planned to go to a local "discotecca" but decided against it because most of us were wiped out. Additionally, we planned to go to a lagoon in the morning. Much to our dismay, it was raining in the morning and cause the hike to be pretty dangerous, so we were grateful for some more sleep. We caught a direct bus back to San Jose at about 1pm after a quick lunch and browsing the shops of La Fortuna. All in all, a great experience and an excellent way to start the excursions her in Costa Rica. Next stop: Bungee Jumping...
-MM, Pura Vida
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