Yesterday was quite an exciting day! We left San Jose and took a 4 hour bus ride to the town of La Fortuna. It's the closest town to Arenal, the most active volcano in Costa Rica and one of the most active in the world. (One guide told us it's #2, another said it's #4.) In this town 90% of the people work in the tourism industry. The bus was really nice and it only cost $4/each. I wish public transportation were this easy in the U.S.
The town of La Fortuna - the volcano is in the background
When we got here it was very cloudy and we were afraid we weren't going to see anything on our night tour. On our tour we took an hour hike and saw spider monkeys and cuatis (similar to raccoons). It rained during most of the hike, but it was very peaceful. After the hike we went to a viewpoint to watch for lava. The volcano erupts constantly, but it's very hard to see during the day. At night though, you see the glowing lava. We were very lucky and watched about 10 eruptions in the 30 minutes or so that we were there. I was pretty pleased with my little video I took! There's a picture, too.
Our view of the volcano when we woke up this morning!
After the volcano we went to the Baldi Hot Springs and they were excellent. They have something like 20 different pools in various temperatures. It was pretty luxurious for Latin America. They had waterslides, waterfalls, wet bars, and tropical gardens. I couldn't go in most of the pools because they were too hot for me since I'm pregnant, but the one by the waterslides was nice and warm. Plus, it was funny to watch all of the people coming down the slides. This is the best picture I have since it was so dark.
Today we went on our final tour. We took a 3 hour boat ride down a river very close to the border with Nicaragua. We saw lots of different birds, iguanas, howler monkeys, and "Jesus Christ lizards" (they can walk on water - Hunter actually saw one do that!). I just enjoyed being out on the peaceful river.
Our boat
A howler monkey
Tomorrow we begin our long journey home! We have a 4 hour bus ride back to San Jose, 2 flights, and then the long drive home from the airport. I don't think we'll get home until about 3 or 4 in the morning! In a way we are both very ready to be back home - we miss our cats! - but I will be sad to have this vacation behind us. It's been a great trip!
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