Visiting La Fortuna/El Arenal in Costa Rica

Hello dear readersI'm sorry for letting you wait this long for another blog post. But here I am again, in the freezing cold Switzerland where temperatures have dropped below zero! You can't imagine how much I miss the warmth of the Costa Rican sun and the ocean breeze, but everyone has to go back to reality eventually, right?So I wanted to take this cold and rather boring winterday to relive my memories once more while telling you about my trip to La Fortuna in this blog post. So, for everyone who doesn't know, I've spent a total of 7 weeks in Costa Rica, of which I spent an entire 6 weeks in Samara in order to do a Spanish course there. I've actually planned to do my entire 7 weeks attending the course, but due to a change in circumstances, I allowed myself to leave school one week early in order to do some more exploring. And Im very glad I did, as even though it was only one short week, I got to see so many more beautiful places and had the opportunity to meet wonderful people from all over the world. So let's hopp right into it!On Friday evening together with a friend I took off to Nicoya from where we would catch a bus which would bring us directly to San José. I've done quite some researching about the best way to get to La Fortuna and came to the conclusion that even though its a bit of a detour, that the easiest and cheapest way would be by passing through San José. There do exist shuttle busses from Samara which take you directly to La Fortuna but they all cost around a ripping 60 Dollars. It might have been more convenient but considering the high price and my urge for some adventuring I didn't mind taking the public bus to San José and then from there a direct bus to La Fortuna. The whole trip cost me around 10 Dollars only, not considering the night at the hostel I spent in San José which cost me an additional 12 Dollars. It would have been possible to go Saturday morning without having to stay and pay an extra night, but I preferred this option as it would split the journey in half (and still was cheaper than the shuttle option).

• Transport

from San José to La FortunaFrom San José you have to go to terminal 7-10 in order to catch the bus to La Fortuna. Here is an overview of the departure times from San José but you can also check the website for other destinations (SIDE NOTE: It took me a long time to figure out the schedule because prior to this new design they only wrote down "La Fortuna" with the hours so it was a little gamble to figure out whether this meant that the bus would leave FROM or TO La Fortuna at this time, but now its indicated clearly, lucky you.)I took the bus saturday morning at 8:40 because I needed the extra sleep but of course, if your time there is rather limited you might want to take the early bus at 6:15 am. Be advised to be there 45 minutes prior to departure in order to save yourself a seat on the bus because this route is quite popular.The bus ride from San José to La Fortuna took around 3 hours as far as I can remember but you might want to check out rome2rio.com for more detailed information. It's a useful website which greatly helped me figuring out how to get from point A to B the fastest.SIDE NOTE: Especially when you are travelling alone passing through San José I would highly advise you to move around by taxi or uber only (this is essential especial during the dark hours). Uber is a very cheap but not quite acknowledged way to get around safely but it's important to tell you that: a) If anyone asks, DONT tell them that you are waiting for an UBER b) You should get in the front seat of the UBER and c) Don't act suspicious and act like you know the UBER driver. This is because UBER drivers might get into trouble when exposed because for the taxi drivers they're their biggest enemy and the police might go as far as to confiscate the UBER drivers car if they find out. So as far as I know there are no risks involved when making use of their services but it makes things a lot easier for the both of you (driver and passenger) when you kind of stick to these rules of thumb. Anyway UBER is very common and often used by locals so there is nothing wrong with that.from La Fortuna to San JoséWhen I tried to look up times for the way back to San José I had a hard time to be honest. The internet gives very limited information on this and not all busses that exist are listed online. Just checking the website of 7-10 now again I found out that there is a 7:30am bus back to San José which I didn't know existed before. The earliest I found and took was 9am but especially if you have a long journey ahead it's very useful to know that an earlier bus exists as you preferably want to get there before it gets dark.

• What I did in La Fortuna/El Arenal

Hot springsWhen I finally arrived in La Fortuna late Saturday afternoon I went to check out the free and natural hotsprings there. They are located by the Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa and you can't miss it because the side of the street is packed with cars. You can find the free hotsprings on google maps too, just search for "Free natural ot springs river" or have a look at the card at the end of this post. Unfortunately, this is not a golden tipp anymore because this place has immensly grown in popularity in the past years and is no longer a secret, if it ever has been. But still, if you go there before sunset you can avoid all the big tour groups which normally are all taken there after their hiking trips. This is definitely a must visit not only because its free but unlike all the artificially built and overpriced spas you actually sit right in the middle of a natural river which isn't man-made. Two Volcano Extreme Hike (Arenal)As I travelled alone and didn't know beforehand how Backpacker/Solo-traveler friendly La Fortuna would turn out to be I decided to book a hiking tour for Sunday which I found via tripadvisor. The price was around 55 Euro for a whole day including transport, guide and lunch.TIPP: Even though the internet will tell you NOT to book tours at your accommodation I found out that people who booked the same tour via the hostel only payed around 50 Dollar for the same tour! So don't make the same mistake I made and don't book via tripadvisor!Our tour guide was a very kind, enthusiastic and nature-friendly local who told us tons and tons of information about the local flora and fauna. It was very interesting to listen to his stories and get to know more about Costa Rica's biodiversity. I think we hiked for a total of around 5 hours, maybe more, but with breaks in between. It was totally doable because most paths were shielded off from the burning sun. But yes, I would also say if you're not used to longer walking distances this might be too much work for you, especially because sometimes you have to pull yourself up with ropes so it involves some climbing. But for any healthy and determined person it's totally feasible.We didn't see any sloth on our tour but got to see different kinds of monkeys and even whole families of them. But my personal highlight was when we got the opportunity to take a dip in the beautiful waterfall which we came across. The water was freezing cold but it was very refreshing and rejuvenating that way. For anyone who knows me, knows that I have developed some kind of a waterfall obsession during my time in Costa Rica. So I found myself in paradise at the sight of this:I have pinned this waterfall down on the imbedded card you find at the end of this blog post. But anyway, even though you can of course explore the area around arenal all by yourself I recommed you to go on a tour as you would otherwise miss out on all the knowledge that the guide passes on to you. But, it's definitely not advisable to go alone into a jungle bearing in mind your safety. Also because you're staying in an area close to an active volcano (Arenal last it errupted in 1992 as far as we were told) and there are always risks involved which you don't want to be exposed to all by yourself.Nevertheless, its a beautiful and very peaceful area and to my surprise we didn't come across many other visitors. Also we were quite lucky as the view to the volcano is normally blocked by thick clouds but on that sunday we could almost see its top!To finish the tour up, we went to the free natural hot water springs, for me the second time but I couldn't get enough anyway. There we got a natural mud face mask together with some kind of alcoholic drink they mixed togther. All in all, it was a very nice day and to my surprise our group was made up of people in their mid-twenties so it was nice getting to meet people my age, so I definitely would book this tour again as it offers you an all-in-one experience.La Fortuna WaterfallI actually stayed a night longer than planned because I met some nice people and didn't feel like leaving yet. I'm glad I prolonged my stay because I would have otherwise missed one of La Fortunas most popular sites: The La Fortuna waterfall. The entrance fee is in my opinion way too overpriced (around 20 dollars and no student discount) but I think it's something definitely worth seeing while you're there. There are quite a few steps (600  to be exact) you have to take in order to get down to the waterfall but it's nothing that should hold you back. The waterfall invites for a swim but again, the water here is very cold plus there were some huge fishes swimming in the clear water right next to me why I didn't linger there for too long.

• Where to stay

Arenal Backpacker's Resort: Hotel and Hostel in one, at the edge of town but securly loacted and equipped with a swimming pool. Very clean too.Selinas: This one is part of a hotel chain spread all across Latin America. It's a classic but also known as a party hostel so it depends on what you like. The food is quite expensive but good and I'm pretty impressed by its well thought-through interior design concept.As promised a card with some of the places I mentioned pinned down:[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1VyhxCKzZz87qT9NaFz0ZulmnF5Rk39n2&w=640&h=480]So I hope this blog post was helpful for anyone planning on visiting La Fortuna/El Arenal or for anyone longing for some mental travel escapes or inspiration.In my next blog post I'm going to tell you about my time in Manuel Antonio which was the next stop on my little adventure and one of Costa Rica's most visited places.Stay tuned!xxxthe_escapedstudent