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I arrived in the town of La Fortuna, Costa Rica in the afternoon. I took a morning shuttle from Santa Elena after spending some time visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Santa Elena is situated near the shore of Lake Arenal and at the base of the photogenic Arenal Volcano. The town provides visitors with opportunities to explore the volcano and soak in thermal hot springs in the area that feed from the mountain.
Although you can take a shuttle bus the entire way, the quickest route is actually to take a shuttle-boat-shutte combo. It was by far the most enjoyable transit I took while in the country because it included a boat ride across Lake Arenal and I love a good boat ride. Before arriving in La Fortuna I had read that it can be difficult to see the volcano as it is frequently covered in clouds, however that was not the case this day. The entire boat journey headed directly towards the mountain and we had a perfectly clear view the entire way. Lucky us!
Day 1:
Once I arrived in La Fortuna, I only had that afternoon plus the following day to explore the area. Luckily, I took early morning transportation so I arrived in town a little before lunch. I checked into the Nice Place Hostel I booked on Hostelworld then headed into the town to find a lunch spot and somewhere to book a tour for the following day. After quick lunch of chicken, rice and beans at a small soda (local restaurant), I spent the afternoon wandering around the town. I spent time in the town square, admiring the old church, flowers and view of the volcano.
After leaving the town square, I walked to the Bogarin Trail. I had read that this trail was home to animals like sloths and toucans that were easy to spot. I paid the entrance fee, grabbed a map, and started slowly walking while looking up in the trees the whole way. The trail isn’t too long and is flat, but I spent many hours here. As soon as I entered I was greated by the sounds of birds chirping in the trees. The trail splits into different directions, so I meandered for a bit before I spotted my first sloth! He was close to the trail but blended in with the tree trunk. This guy was quickly climbing the tree. Every now and then he would stop and look my way, like he was posing for my photos. I spotted another sleeping sloth in the next tree over.
It was amazing! Spotting a sloth in the wild was one of the main things I wanted to see while on this trip. Naturally, I was ecstatic when it finally happened!
I eventually left this friendly sloth once he had climbed higher and continued my walk. I spotted two other sloths but none as active or photogenic as the first.
As I neared the trail exit, I spotted another animal I really wanted to see in the wild on this trip – a toucan! He was perched right above me over the trail. I stopped to spend a few minutes admiring this gorgeous bird and saw a few others flying between other trees.
After spending a few hours walking through the woods, I was hot and exhausted so I headed back into town to find somewhere to relax. I stopped at the La Fortuna Pub on the walk back into town to get out of the Costa Rican heat and humidity. While there, I had to sample some local Costa Rican beers! After this quick and refreshing break, I went back to the central part of town for dinner then back to my hostel for the night. I had a tour booked to the volcano for the following morning that I was very excited for and I wanted to rest up.
Day 2:
The following morning I awoke early, ready for my one and only full day of exploring the area. I booked a tour with Red Lava Tours that had a full itenerary of the main activities I wanted to experience while in this region.
The first stop of the tour was at the La Fortuna Waterfall. After a short bus ride from town, we arrived at the parking area for the falls. From here, we took a tractor ride into the forest to the start of the trail. The trail down to the waterfall is only abut a mile long, but downhill the whole way. Right before reaching the falls, you encounter a river you need to wade through. On the other side is the waterfall! We spent about an hour here where we could take pictures and swim at the base of the falls or in the river. Even though this was the first stop of the morning, it was already packed with tourists from other groups. Although this isn’t one of the largest waterfalls I have ever seen, it was beautiful with lush greenery surrounding it.
After the waterfall, we hiked back up the hill, jumped back onto the tractor, and drove to a nearby Maleku Indian Village. We were served tea inside a small hut that had a fireplace in the middle and local art all around. After a short presentation about their culture and history, we had time for some shopping before heading back to the tractor for the short ride to the entrance and parking area. Before returing to the bus to head to our next destination, we had a typical lunch of meat (I chose chicken), rice and beans.
After lunch we headed off to our next destination – the Arenal Volcano! This is what I was the most excited about and the main reason I made the trip to La Fortuna. As a Pacific Northwest resident, I see volcanoes almost daily (thanks Mt. Hood!) but I really wanted to see a tropical volcano not covered in snow. The tour took us on a hike through an old lava field up a portion of the volcano. We ended at a viewpoint looking out towards to mountain. Although we didn’t get any closer or hike any higher, it was beautiful and absolutely worth visiting.
The last stop on this tour was to a local hot springs. La Fortuna has many resorts offering people a chance to dip in a hot spring fed from the volcano. Some of these resorts are very fancy and expensive, but we stopped at a more modest hot spring. There were about a half dozen pools, each with varying water temperatures. We spent the next few hours soaking in the pools and relaxing after a long day of sight seeing and hiking. Our guides even brought some beverages for us to enjoy while soaking.
After this, our guides drove us back to town. It was a busy day, but absolutely worth waking up early! I loved this part of the Costa Rica and the opportunity to admire this volcano from up close. La Fortuna was an adorable town and I hope to visit again whenever I return to Costa Rica.
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