What a surprise to wake up and have it be pouring rain and cold! I thought I was escaping the winter of the NorthEast. Turns out there was a cold front passing through all of Costa Rica and being that Monteverde is in the mountains and the middle of the rainforest, we definitely felt the difference in temperature. Winds were pretty strong, but I still made it out in time for my 10:30 tour of the suspension bridges. We were taken in vans to Selvatura Park outside of town where there are 8 bridges built into the canopy from which you can see the flora and fauna of the rainforest. It was quite beautiful and I was able to capture some great scenery although I came back soaking wet. Luckily, there were hot showers at Sleepers which I could take advantage of. The rest of the day was pretty mellow...I met some other travelers from Czech Republic, the US and Canada and chatted with them about where they have been to compare notes.
The following day, the conditions became worse...the wind was stronger and the rain heavier. I'd booked the "Extremo" canopy tour and was very excited to undertake the 14 ziplines (the longest of which was 750 m), 1 several hundred foot rappel and a tarzan swing. This was by far the BEST canopy tour I've been on to date and we had a great group too. Everyone was young and adventurous. We took some pictures and someone even captured a video of me during my tarzan swing experience...pretty much it was a free fall drop for several hundred feet followed by a pendulum swing into the rainforest...it was absolutely exhilarating! Once we'd finished up the program, it was late in the afternoon and everyone was soaked. Again, drained from the weather, I took it easy and relaxed.
Early Thursday morning, one of the girls from the hostel, Margot, was headed to Arenal with me and we departed for our Jeep-Boat-Jeep excursion. We took a car from Monteverde to Lake Arenal, a boat to the other side of the lake, and then another car to our next destination. We'd both decided to stay at the Arenal Backpacker's Resort; a "five star hostel". It was pretty nice for a hostel, but definitely not 5 stars in my book. We ran into another girl I'd met in Ometepe, Chris, and she joined up with us. We were excited to book the tour of the natural hot springs. In Arenal, there are several destinations where resorts have taken the natural hot springs from the Arenal Volcano and turned them into spas. We decided to do a tour which included a 2 hour hike of the volcano followed by a visit to the nicest hot springs in town, Tabacon. It was a bit pricey, but we couldn't resist as many people said that the cost was well worth it. There were three other Canadian girls on our tour as well which was a nice group for the afternoon/evening.
The hike was a bit wet as it was still raining in Arenal, but once we got to Tabacon, we were all in heaven! (Mom, you would've loved this place!) It was as if you were at the many pools in a 5-star (legitimate 5-star) resort, but the pools were warmer than jacuzzis and natural flowing water from the volcano. Some pools even had waterfalls and rapids in them and sandy bottoms. It was fantastic. The surroundings were also great because the tropical plants and trees of the rainforest remained in tact there. We had a few hours to hang out before going to dinner at the resort's restaurant. It was a great excursion.
Friday morning, I hoped it would clear up, but it was still raining. I took the day to straighten out my plans for the next leg of my journey...Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. I'll be there for about a week and also meet up with Gretchen before continuing on to Panama.
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