(La Fortuna, Costa Rica)

As expected, getting out of San José is starting to ramp up the “wow” factor in Costa Rica. I wonder if this blog will be able to keep up with all of the new and unusual things I’m seeing!

Our day started with a drive north from  San José to La Fortuna, our home for the next two nights.  Our first stop was at a humble restaurant where we each had a hot mug of agua dulce (“sweet water”), which looked almost like tea but is made from sugar cane.  The restaurant had a miniature rainforest behind it, including a hummingbird-viewing platform.

Next up was a stop at some relatively small but intense waterfalls.  Our leader bought us some mamones chinos (literally “Chinese Suckers”) there for a snack- it is a fruit in the lychee family that is called “rambutan” elsewhere.  The covering looks really scary but it is easily peeled to reveal a sweet, addictive fruit.

After a quick stop at a coffee plantation, some of the group disembarked for some white-water rafting.  This definitely conflicted with the treatment for my sore shoulder, so I proceeded to La Fortuna.  The non-rafters had a nice Costa Rican lunch at a local café (my choice was the casado especial – of course, it included rice and black beans).

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a “volcano hike”.  We were taken to the nearby Arenal volcano to learn about the recent eruptions and to see a regenerated rainforest up close.  After being dormant for as long as anybody can remember, Arenal erupted spectacularly in 1968 and then again in 1992.  It has had some minor activity since then but nothing to match the two big eruptions.  In those eruptions, many people died and a huge swath of land was flooded by lava.

It was incredible to see how much growth can occur in 22 years – you can get an idea from the photo at the top of this post.  The affected area now hosts a huge variety of plant, animal and bird life.  You’d never guess that it used to be a desolate lava wasteland.  After spotting a huge wild turkey in a tree near the trail, we also saw termites, toucans, hairy spiders and various bizarre plants (including a species of tree with its roots above ground).   Although we did not see any, we certainly heard the extremely loud cries of the howler monkey.

We then crossed parts of the lava flow and were rewarded with brilliant views of Lake Arenal as well as the volcano itself.  Arenal volcano has a perfect pyramid shape:  it is like the Matterhorn of Costa Rica.  We also saw more toucans in full flight – it really is strange to see such a large-beaked bird flying so quickly from tree to tree.  I hope to see more wildlife like this during my Costa Rican adventure.

The day ended with a demonstration of, and practice in, tortilla making.  After enjoying the results, we sat down to a nice traditional dinner that included…rice and black beans!  Both lunch and dinner also featured homemade chilero, but I have to admit that I preferred the chilero from our first meal in San José.  The next two were much hotter but not as flavourful (or had their flavours obscured by the searing heat!).

Next up:  a day-long tour to a remote wildlife-viewing area near the border with Nicaragua.  There are going to be some great photos, I promise you!