Waterfalls, hot springs and volcanoes…oh my! (costa rica part two)

The day after I arrived in Costa Rica, Matt and I set off for La Fortuna, home of La Arenal Volcano and some waterfalls. The five-hour bus ride was like nothing I’d ever experienced. We were able to find seats together, but after a few stops, the bus became standing-room only, with people squished in the aisle and overflowing onto my face. Every so often, as I’d have some stranger’s butt or stomach brushing against me (who needs personal space?), I’d curl my feet up on on my chair so Matt could cross his under mine because these buses weren’t exactly designed with someone 6-foot-4 in mind. These buses also weren’t designed with people’s bladders in mind, because they don’t have bathrooms. The idea of a bumpy five-hour bus ride after downing a bunch of water left me fearing my bladder would burst on board. Luckily no such thing happened.

On the bright side, the long ride was perfect for listening to music. I took one of Matt’s earbuds hostage and quickly became a fan of Band of Horses, Kings of Leon and Bon Iver. I never learned the names of the songs, so for the rest of the trip I’d just say “Can you play that one I really liked, when his voice was all raspy (as I gestured with my hands crinkling by my throat).” And Matt would know exactly which one I was talking about, which was amazing, because I wasn’t even sure which band I was referring to.

Once we made it to La Fortuna, we ducked into a restaurant for dinner because of a massive downpour. After the storm let up, we checked into our hostel, where we ended up staying the rest of the night because the monsoon returned. Thankfully our hostel had happy hour, which nearly everyone staying there took advantage of. Unfortunately the one bartender-slash-chef was bombarded by us all and it took forever to get drinks.

The weather held out the next day, which worked out well for our hike to the waterfall. The clouds even parted a bit so you could see the top of the volcano. The animals we saw along the way were pretty entertaining. All the horses would come up to the fences by the street, as if to pose for the tourists.

It took about 90 minutes to walk there, and it was brutally hot the whole way. Despite handwashing the clothes I wore that day in Costa Rica and washing them in a machine once I got back to New York, I think they still smell. That’s how potent the mixture of my sweat + bug spray + sunscreen was. I bet you really wanted to know that.

After all the climbing up to the volcano area, it was a steep, rugged walk down to the waterfall. Loose chains and rope provided the “railing” between you and death by tumbling into the forest. The uneven stairs were crumbling rocks. I moved so slowly, afraid of slipping and getting hurt. Once we made it to the waterfall, it was a whole new battle. We took off our tennis shoes and switched to flip flops to walk on the rocks out to the water. I may as well have been playing Twister with the awkward maneuvering I had going on.

Even once we made it into the freezing water, we had trouble finding our footing because of the slippery moss. Our swim out to the waterfall lasted a whole four seconds because we kept getting pushed back to shore. Every time we looked over at our hostel roommate Sarah, she appeared to be nearly drowning from a new wave. And after I was swept up by a wave as I was climbing out, to the point of falling into the splits and gnashing my calf on a rock, I chose to perch atop a rock, all mermaid-like, to avoid any future currents that would try to have their way with me. Matt, on the other hand, managed to sit in the water like it was a calm kiddie pool.

(more photos from Costa Rica are up on flickr)

Matt and I took it easy our second day in La Fortuna, starting with some delicious coffee and pancakes with nutella for breakfast at a nearby cafe (thus continuing my addiction to nutella). It was an open-air restaurant and our seats were right behind the entryway, which created a perfect vortex of breeze that made me never want to leave. The cafe was also a breeding ground for waiters with overly gelled hair. Made you question how much money they spent on hair gel and how much of their morning routine was devoted to spiking their hair up and out. The rest of the day we hung out in our hostel pool, enjoying the beautiful weather (and trying to avoid an annoying alcoholic Canadian who kept talking at us).

Our last day in La Fortuna, we visited Baldi Hot Springs. We’d been hearing rave reviews about it from people at our hostel, that they had more than 30 pools of varying temperatures, plus waterslides. We never found the waterslides, but we hopped from pool to pool, like Goldilocks, trying to find the right temperature. One was so scalding that Matt ran right through it, and when I waded in, I felt like my body was on fire. We met some middle-aged women from Costa Rica who really enjoyed talking to Matt. I had trouble with their accents, but I did catch on that Matt told them I loved Target and wanted to design stationery. The women didn’t entirely believe that I didn’t know Spanish, as I nodded along when Matt would say something. And every time they asked him — in Spanish — if I knew the language, I would look at them and shake my head no. It made me laugh. They tried getting me to speak Spanish but I wouldn’t budge. Ole!

The hot springs were incredibly relaxing, minus a few splash fights (Matt started them). We were only able to stay for a couple hours though because we had to catch a bus to Monteverde.