I had an early start to the day, wanting to beat all the crowds at La Fortuna waterfall. I got there 10 minutes before they opened at 7am, and was the first one there :) it was super convenient to drive to, only 10 minutes from the hotel.
It was actually a little chilly in the morning, and while I wore my swimsuit thinking I might go for a wade, I was thinking twice about it now.
As described in many reviews, there are hundreds of stairs that you need to take down to the falls. It took less than 10 minutes for me to get down there, stopping a few times for photos.
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| Stairs stairs stairs |
Beautiful waterfall, definitely feels more rugged than Llanos del Cortez. The rocks were large and extremely slippery (even with my water shoes on) and no sandy area to sit and relax. I had the place to myself for maybe 15- 20 minutes. It was peaceful to just sit there and look at the water. It is much colder than the water at Llanos del Cortez. I only dipped my feet in, and decided it was a no for anything more than that.
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| Enjoying the water view and mist |
More people started arriving and since I wasn't going to swim, I started the trek up. It took me around 10 minutes to go up.
There is also an orchid trail and butterfly trail. Both are short. I enjoyed the butterflies, but there were not many orchids in bloom.
Overall, I spent an hour and a half here. My next stop was the Bogarin Trail across from my hotel, at 9am!
At the Bogarin Trail, one of the co-founders who helped build the farm and trails gave me the tour, Giovanni. It ended up being a private tour because the other people were no-shows. He started building up the trails and trees in 2000. Its amazing how much has grown and the progress made since then. The trail is very well maintained and flat.
I saw sloths!! Four or five three-toed sloths. Including a momma + baby. They were just little round balls of fluff holding onto the trees. Mostly could only see the backs, but I saw one face! It was best to go at this time because once the afternoon sun hits, it is too hot for them and they need to hide in the shade.
Bogarin Trail has 35 sloths in residence. More will probably be visible in the near future, because Giovanni recently planted a whole line of hibiscus trees for the sloths to hang out on. It will be the "sloth highway".
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| Hello, sloth! |
Giovanni is clearly knowledgeable and comfortable with wildlife. He wanted to find a frog to show me, so he poked around and shuffled leaves, knowing they usually hide when its warm out. Just like that he found one, a poisonous Bluejeans Frog.
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| Tiny poisonous Bluejeans Frog |
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| Lovely colorful mot-mot |
We also saw two toucanettes, and a mot-mot bird. Beautiful colors. And, a bunch of wild turkeys, iguanas, and even caimans + babies.
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| Baby caimans near the water |
Overall, the tour was around 1hr 45minutes. Its a bit pricey at $35.. but, lots of animal sightings! I can't help but notice how expensive everything is here. Not food, but every excursion seems to have a not-inexpensive price tag. Entrance fees, guide fees, sometimes parking fees. I really will be spending a lot here...
Afterward Bogarin, I was debating about going to Arenal Observatory Lodge to walk around the trails and enjoy the view, but I was hungry and starting to feel drained. The heat and early morning was getting to me. Plus my fatigue.
Wanting to eat somewhere local, I checked out Soda La Hormiga, near the bus terminal. So busy and popular. Again, TripAdvisor. I ordered arroz con pollo, wanting to mix it up and not have casada as usual. The chicken was a little dry, but I was so hungry and it was cheap.
Afterwards, I was still exhausted. I was hoping that sitting there and eating would help me get my energy back, but the morning really wiped me out. I called an audible and decided on no AOL, choosing to just take it easy the rest of the day.
I meandered around the town a little bit. Again, seeing how touristy it is. I got some ice cream and just hung out at the Fortuna park for a good chunk of time. While there are many tourists around, this park is frequented by locals as well.
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| Resting with a view from Fortuna Park |
I got really hot and tired, and headed back to the hotel. But of course I wanted to see how much a massage at the place next to my hotel was. I'm a sucker for massages. So, I paid $35 for a one-hour massage. Oops, not a great deal. But, Maria was really good...pleasantly surprised. Again, I love my usual massage therapist I see regularly, but Maria was probably after her.
After the massage, I rested. For dinner, headed across the street to Pollo Fortuneno. I had doubts because it looked like a touristy place and no locals ate there. But, I valued the convenience of it being across the street and cheap. Yes the rotisserie chicken was good. But, I think I've had other good chicken elsewhere.
Busy morning today, and tomorrow will be as well. I'll head to Tenorio Volcano National Park to see Rio Celeste.
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