Arenal
Another day in Costa Rica and yet again, not all is smooth but I guess it's still better than being stuck in London doing mondane things...
Carlos came to pick me up at 8:00am and after a quick breakfast we drove to the next stop over, the Arenal area. The temperature started rising very quickly and the humidity level also grew higher with every mile - it seemed. The scenery was lovely, as ever. More bridges, more rivers... we even passed one that had the softest blue waters because it came from volcanic rock...
I wanted to take pictures off all the bridges but I soon realised I would have ended up with 100+ shots of river flowing gently and my photo album would have looked seriously boring after a while. We also saw some amazing birds flying across the road... the most unusual I've seen today had black wings but an almost fluo orange body. You could spot it a mile off. Truly dazzling colours but too fast for a picture.
We stopped on the way to La Fortuna village which is very small but has got all the facilities you'd need. So, I bought more post cards (it took me over a week to actually *find* post cards, most are just prints that they sell with nothing at the back), coffee for work, etc. I wanted to find an alarm clock (I'd brought TWO with me and they BOTH broke down yesterday !) but Carlos assured me that the hotel could provide alarm-call, hope so. Plus shampoo (the hotels just do not supply shampoos - ever, it seems) and shower-gel (another rarity in most countries, strangely enough.. but, call me fussy, I cannot wash with soap, it tends to dry up my skin in no time at all).
We then drove 35mns out of town and got a bit closer to the Arenal volcano (the most active volcano in Costa Rica). Carlos stopped the car/bus and showed me how to look out for the steamy rocks, white rocks, that fall off its slope as the volcano throws them in the air... he said they'd look ember red at night and that I could probably spot them from my hotel room.
He was a really nice bloke, almost acted like my mother on many occasions ! He immediately spotted all my nasty fly bites and even found me some aloe vera to rub on - he knew which plant to go for to ease the itching, etc.
He drove me to my hotel and we both realised it was in the middle of no where. Worse still, it had no internet (ahhhh, I could not be 6 DAYS in a row without internet !!!) and the hotel also didn't really have any excursions that left from my hotel. In fact, all departure points were from La Fortuna which meant an extra $50 in cab (return) for me to get there and back... and they all started at 7am, so it meant waking up at 5:30am.... ahhhh.
I told Carlos I feared I was going to be bored stiff here. All on my own again... with no one to hike with me (which would be useful just in case I got injured in some ways... it doesn't have to mean something as drastic as a snake bite, it could just be twisting an ankle or something). Greg said there is an aerial tram nearby that he highly recommended but I'm not sure where... I haven't seen it advertised anywhere yet. They have the zip line though and also a butterfly garden which I may try and go to (only 2kms away so cheap cab ride) as I'd love to take pictures of the morfo (wide blue wings). There also are the famous Tabacon Hot Springs 20mns away which are supposed to be oustandingly beautiful. With several springs of different temperatures, manicured gardens, etc. It looks ever so picture-perfect, from the post cards that I've seen of it, but it's yet another $35 to get in, and $30 to get there and back by cab... :( That's the biggest EEEK of this location. It has a great view of the volcanoe, etc. but if I want to do anything else, it costs me double just to get there and back + an extra hour of my time, which, considering it gets dark at 5:30pm, is a lot !
So, after Carlos had a little nap in my room (the poor chap had woken up at 3:30am today to take some other people to the airport before coming to pick me up) and after we had lunch, I asked if he could drive me back to La Fortuna (since he had to go back that same way) so that I could at least do something like looking up tour operators and emailing Foto Verde Tours to ask if they could spare me a driver for a day...
They've emailed me back to say they couldn't as they were both already busy on other 'missions' but they're trying to arrange something with a local operator. There are 2 things that would take my fancy, from what I've seen in brochures, it's a walk by the Rio Celestre and a walk on the hanging bridges. The Rio Celestre is of this amazing blue and 'legend has it that after God created the earth, He dipped His paint brush in this river, which is why it became so beautiful'.... Ok, I don't believe in legends, don't worry... but I have seen pictures of this river and it does look rather dazzling and unique. And hyper photogenic. There is even a waterfall that's turquoise blue and which must be a jaw-dropping sight. The hanging bridges are a 3kms trail, over 15 separate bridges, hanging from 60m to 150m above the ground to try and see all the animals and birds that live on the canopy. I figured it might be neat for photos....
But Paulo (Greg's partner in this venture) has warned me that it'd be a 3.5H *each* way to get there as it's quite far from Arenal and they both can't be done on the same day. I wouldn't mind, personally, because all the scenery in CR is so beautiful that I'd rather be on the move, with my eyes wide open, than just wandering around the lodge... and if I have a personal driver, at least I can stop whenever I like for photos... but I didn't want to spend more than $200 on an additional day trip (having already spent quite a LOT on this holiday as it is), so none of the above will probably work out... sigh, sigh...
Still, I shall go and shop around for further info, just in case... after that I'll need to get a cab back to my hotel (probably $30 !) and won't have email access again for 2 days...
It's quite stormy outside so a write-off as far as photos go, hence a good opportunity to chat to you all and update my journal before I get toooo behind...
I miss you all and wish we could chat face to face ! :) Bisous, Sylvie xxx
Another day in Costa Rica and yet again, not all is smooth but I guess it's still better than being stuck in London doing mondane things...
Carlos came to pick me up at 8:00am and after a quick breakfast we drove to the next stop over, the Arenal area. The temperature started rising very quickly and the humidity level also grew higher with every mile - it seemed. The scenery was lovely, as ever. More bridges, more rivers... we even passed one that had the softest blue waters because it came from volcanic rock...
I wanted to take pictures off all the bridges but I soon realised I would have ended up with 100+ shots of river flowing gently and my photo album would have looked seriously boring after a while. We also saw some amazing birds flying across the road... the most unusual I've seen today had black wings but an almost fluo orange body. You could spot it a mile off. Truly dazzling colours but too fast for a picture.
We stopped on the way to La Fortuna village which is very small but has got all the facilities you'd need. So, I bought more post cards (it took me over a week to actually *find* post cards, most are just prints that they sell with nothing at the back), coffee for work, etc. I wanted to find an alarm clock (I'd brought TWO with me and they BOTH broke down yesterday !) but Carlos assured me that the hotel could provide alarm-call, hope so. Plus shampoo (the hotels just do not supply shampoos - ever, it seems) and shower-gel (another rarity in most countries, strangely enough.. but, call me fussy, I cannot wash with soap, it tends to dry up my skin in no time at all).
We then drove 35mns out of town and got a bit closer to the Arenal volcano (the most active volcano in Costa Rica). Carlos stopped the car/bus and showed me how to look out for the steamy rocks, white rocks, that fall off its slope as the volcano throws them in the air... he said they'd look ember red at night and that I could probably spot them from my hotel room.
He was a really nice bloke, almost acted like my mother on many occasions ! He immediately spotted all my nasty fly bites and even found me some aloe vera to rub on - he knew which plant to go for to ease the itching, etc.
He drove me to my hotel and we both realised it was in the middle of no where. Worse still, it had no internet (ahhhh, I could not be 6 DAYS in a row without internet !!!) and the hotel also didn't really have any excursions that left from my hotel. In fact, all departure points were from La Fortuna which meant an extra $50 in cab (return) for me to get there and back... and they all started at 7am, so it meant waking up at 5:30am.... ahhhh.
I told Carlos I feared I was going to be bored stiff here. All on my own again... with no one to hike with me (which would be useful just in case I got injured in some ways... it doesn't have to mean something as drastic as a snake bite, it could just be twisting an ankle or something). Greg said there is an aerial tram nearby that he highly recommended but I'm not sure where... I haven't seen it advertised anywhere yet. They have the zip line though and also a butterfly garden which I may try and go to (only 2kms away so cheap cab ride) as I'd love to take pictures of the morfo (wide blue wings). There also are the famous Tabacon Hot Springs 20mns away which are supposed to be oustandingly beautiful. With several springs of different temperatures, manicured gardens, etc. It looks ever so picture-perfect, from the post cards that I've seen of it, but it's yet another $35 to get in, and $30 to get there and back by cab... :( That's the biggest EEEK of this location. It has a great view of the volcanoe, etc. but if I want to do anything else, it costs me double just to get there and back + an extra hour of my time, which, considering it gets dark at 5:30pm, is a lot !
So, after Carlos had a little nap in my room (the poor chap had woken up at 3:30am today to take some other people to the airport before coming to pick me up) and after we had lunch, I asked if he could drive me back to La Fortuna (since he had to go back that same way) so that I could at least do something like looking up tour operators and emailing Foto Verde Tours to ask if they could spare me a driver for a day...
They've emailed me back to say they couldn't as they were both already busy on other 'missions' but they're trying to arrange something with a local operator. There are 2 things that would take my fancy, from what I've seen in brochures, it's a walk by the Rio Celestre and a walk on the hanging bridges. The Rio Celestre is of this amazing blue and 'legend has it that after God created the earth, He dipped His paint brush in this river, which is why it became so beautiful'.... Ok, I don't believe in legends, don't worry... but I have seen pictures of this river and it does look rather dazzling and unique. And hyper photogenic. There is even a waterfall that's turquoise blue and which must be a jaw-dropping sight. The hanging bridges are a 3kms trail, over 15 separate bridges, hanging from 60m to 150m above the ground to try and see all the animals and birds that live on the canopy. I figured it might be neat for photos....
But Paulo (Greg's partner in this venture) has warned me that it'd be a 3.5H *each* way to get there as it's quite far from Arenal and they both can't be done on the same day. I wouldn't mind, personally, because all the scenery in CR is so beautiful that I'd rather be on the move, with my eyes wide open, than just wandering around the lodge... and if I have a personal driver, at least I can stop whenever I like for photos... but I didn't want to spend more than $200 on an additional day trip (having already spent quite a LOT on this holiday as it is), so none of the above will probably work out... sigh, sigh...
Still, I shall go and shop around for further info, just in case... after that I'll need to get a cab back to my hotel (probably $30 !) and won't have email access again for 2 days...
It's quite stormy outside so a write-off as far as photos go, hence a good opportunity to chat to you all and update my journal before I get toooo behind...
I miss you all and wish we could chat face to face ! :) Bisous, Sylvie xxx
posted by Sylvie at 10:58 PM
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