2 month mark (continued)

The weekend after the Osa Peninsula, we went to Arenal. It's about about a 3 hour bus ride. The length of bus rides here varies depending on traffic. As we have discovered, traffic on Sundays (especially along the coast can be brutal). That makes our trips home extra long. The one back from Osa was especially long. The "highways" can be one-lane roads and sometimes you can sit on those roads in a slow crawl for what seems to be an eternity. And there always seems to be a baby crying for two straight hours (trip back from Manuel Antonio) or someone puking on the bus (as was the case with our trip back fom Arenal). I should note that the screaming baby was directly behind me and the little girl blowing chunks was directly in front of me. I guess I have all of the luck. But this is just a minor nuisance in comparison to the greatness that is seeing all that Costa Rica has to offer. For a country the size of West Virginia, the variety of things one can do is incredible. 

Anyway, we paid $6/a night for a hostel in Arenal. We were a bit apprehensive that the place would be a dump, but it was actually a very nice, clean hostel. Not only that but the staff was incredibly accommodating. Juan Carlos, or el Capitán as many call him, picked us up at the bus stop and walked us to the hostel. He even pointed out a toucan along the way. When we got settled in, he offered us all free cocktails. He also offered to take us to a public hot springs for $5/person. Since the taxi would have probably cost more than that and he would watch our stuff while we were in the hot springs, we happily took his offer. He even gave us a cooler for our beer and bought us guaro (liquor made from cane sugar) and coke. Ticos are just too nice. The hot springs was beautiful. Since the volcano's last major eruption in 1968, the water flowing in the rivers has been hot. Consequently, the area is full of high end resorts with beautiful hot spring pools, cascading waterfalls and picturesque views of the volcano. For shoestring travelers such as myself, the free public ones do just fine. The river is surrounded by forest and has little cascading waterfalls. My friends and I had a lot of fun soaking in the hot water surrounded by the jungle staring up at the night sky. It was a great experience. 

The next day, we hired el Capitán to be our tour guide in Arenal. He offered to take us by van into the park and be our guide on a hike through the park for $15. Since it costs $10 anyway to get into the park, for $5 more a person we could have a guide. And we were so glad we did because he took us up the path that the lava flowed all the way until you weren't allowed to go any higher for safety reasons. We climbed so high up and it was pretty arduous, but it was so worth it. The views from up there were absolutely stunning. It was so picturesque. You could see the surrounding forest, the mountains, and Lake Arenal. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of Switzerland. About the lava: Since the Arenal Volcano erupted in 1968, wiping out much of the surrounding area, lava flowed pretty regularly from the volcano until 2010 when it stopped. Because of this, Arenal is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The pictures of the red lava flowing from the volcano at night are so pretty. But alas, the lava has stopped for now at least. I'm praying to the volcano gods that the lava starts flowing again before I go back in a few weeks with my family, but I'm not getting my hopes up. After our descent from the volcano, we went to a local "swimming hole" near the hostel. It was a river with a rope swing that you could use to swing out into deep water. It was right by two little waterfalls about 10 feet high. It was really pretty. And it was reheally fun to swing out on the rope and drop into the water. It was probably about a 10 foot drop into the water. I also dove from some rocks that separated the two waterfalls. It was so fun!! All for free. Doesn't get much better than that. So that was our trip to Arenal. It was one of my favorite trips I think. Though it's hard to say. Everything we've done has been pretty amazing.