El Fin de Semana en La Volcán Arenal

The Weekend at Arenal Volcano


This weekend was a blast! We left Friday around one, arriving at Arenal Volcano around 5. We stayed at a resort called Los Lagos, which had an amazing view of the volcano. It also had 5 different hot springs. As you venture up the hill, each hot spring gets warmer. So naturally, we had to check out the hot springs and slides the first night of our visit. One slide was, in my opinion, better and faster than any slide I've been on in water parks! 

The next day, I woke up early to go biking through the tropical rain forest. What an experience! I highly recommend it to anyone. Only 3 of the ISA students signed up, but it was actually better that way, because we were able to ask more questions to the tour guide. My knowledge of the Costa Rican flora and fauna has expanded substantially because of that bike ride- haha! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We saw howler monkeys, toucans, white-nosed coati, and orioles! Not to mention the lush vegetation! All the natural attractions of Costa Rica never cease to amaze me. We biked about 12 miles around El Lago Arenal (Lake Arenal) at the base of Arenal Volcano. 

Although it doesn't look like it here, the trek was anything but easy! The majority of it was rocky and uphill, but it was so worth it! At the end, we stopped at a river and ate pineapple, mango, and bananas. I was telling the tour guide about how much better the fruit is here. He informed me that the reason the fruit has more taste in Costa Rica than the States is because they pick the fruit when it's green, then ship it to America. However, in Costa Rica, they pick the fruit at just the right moment, so it is able to absorb more flavor. Anyway, when I got back to the resort, we took the buses into a nearby town called La Fortuna, where some girls and I ate lunch at a restaurant called The Lava Lounge (cute, right?) and piddled around town for a bit. There were stray dogs EVERYWHERE! In the restaurants, walking around the streets. It was so discomforting :(. There is over 1 million stray dogs in Costa Rica. How sad is that! I wanted to give them my whole meal, but I'm pretty sure the restaurant owner wouldn't have been too pleased with me. We grabbed some ice cream (lime sherbert-yumm!) then went to a coffee shop called Down to Earth Coffee and learned about the process of coffee-making. 

This is a Costa Rican coffee-maker. They put the beans in the bag, then pour hot water on the beans. We're a bit more modernized, but their coffee is 10 times better!
*To all you coffee-drinkers: The best coffee is harvested at an altitude between 3,000 and 5,000 feet!Also, go for the light roast- it has more caffeine, and is better for your metabolism!
The girls and I then took a taxi back to the resort. My friend Nicole and I walked around the crocodile exhibit at Los Lagos, went back to the room, and got ready for dinner. After dinner at the resort, some girls and I got ready together to go out. We went to the guys' room and hung out, then took a taxi to a bar called Los Establos. A lot of the ISA students were there, and we danced all night long! 

The next day, the students on the "orange" bus (there is 3 buses: blue, yellow, and orange; Blue and yellow went on Saturday while we were hanging out in town) woke up bright and early and went to La Fortuna Waterfall. 

One word: breathtaking. The whole time I was at the waterfall, I thought about how profound God's power and love is. He created the world in his likeness. I couldn't stop thinking about how long and hard he must have worked to perfect this waterfall, but he did it out of love! I didn't want to leave! But we went back to the resort after an hour, packed up, and headed back to San Jose. Great weekend! We have an awesome group of students.