My Day in La Fortuna

Arenal Volcano taken from the park.

View from downtown La Fortuna.  Apparently the volcano is usually at least partially covered by clouds.

I've been here in La Fortuna a bit over 24 hours and that's enough.  Someone told me she spent 3 nights there and that was pushing it.  I suppose this is because the city doesn't offer much other than a nice view of the volcano and a million tour operators.  Pretty much the only thing to do while in La Fortuna is to go on a tour.  So that is what I did.

Spider Monkeys

I took what is referred to as the "cheap tour."  I suppose it was cheap enough at $30, but I feel like I've been on better tours for less.  Tours where I didn't have to see the older, larger guide in his bikini briefs.

The best toucan shot I got.  As you can imagine,
photographing animals isn't usually easy; they won't hold still.

I arrived in La Fortuna yesterday somewhere around 1 pm.  It was too late to do much of anything.  The problem with La Fortuna is that all the cool stuff requires either a rented car or an expensive taxi.  Since I didn't want to rent a car by myself and didn't want to spend as much on a taxi as on admission (additionally, there is the whole problem of what to do once I'm done wherever.  Will the taxi wait?  Will there be another one?)  I wanted to go to the hot springs and I was interested in a horse ride as well (neither of which is easy to do without the assistance of a guided tour).  These tours existed, but cost a little more than I wanted to pay. As I stated previously, every single business in the small town of La Fortuna offered tours.  

Montezuma Oropendola nests.  This bird makes a wild echo
kind of a noise. I actually heard the sound long  before I ever
saw the bird.  The male oropendola makes several of these
hanging nests trying to impress the female.  The female has
final say on whether or not the nest is good enough. (I am
unsure whether the male makes one nest at a time and tries to
pass inspection after each attempt, or if he makes several nests
and allows the female to choose which one she wants to live in.)

In my one La Fortuna day, I ended up going on a "try some things out" tour that took me to the Volcano Observatory Lodge (they had grounds they charge admission for).  The group of us, led by Franklin, walked through the grounds and on one of the nature trails.  We saw spider monkeys and a lone howler monkey, 2 toucans (I was able to photograph 1), a blue morpho butterfly (I'm never quick enough to photograph a morpho) and a dozen plants we were told the medicinal uses of.

When I was told about the tour, I was expecting something different.  I thought we were going to La Fortuna waterfall (we didn't) and to Baldi Hot Springs (again, we didn't).  After the hike at the Observatory Lodge, we went to the significantly cheaper version of these things.

We saw a waterfall, but it was on the Volcano Observatory Lodge property.  The waterfall was basically a photo op.  And we went to hot springs, heated by the volcano, but they were not the famous Baldi Hot Springs.  The hot springs we visited were "the free version."  Our tour bus was pulled alongside other tour buses and Tico cars and we walked a few yards down the road to a spot where we could climb down to the hot spring river.  I was more than shocked when the tour guide stripped down to his skivvies and joined us.  I was only too thankful that his skivvies were gray.  The springs were rather nice.  We were able to get in the water, which was similar in temperature to a hot tub.  I've read that at the fancier resort/spa/whatevers like Baldi and Tabacon, there are pools of varying temperatures.  If I ever make it back to La Fortuna (although in all honesty I probably won't), I will go to the "real" hot springs that you pay for.

The waterfall.

Don't get me wrong, both the waterfall and hot springs were nice, just not what I was expecting.  But I suppose, what should I really have expected for $30?  Baldi Hot Springs costs around $22 (if you get the tickets from a tour operator) and La Fortuna waterfall costs $7.

The hot springs.