After a couple of weeks on each of the coasts we were looking forward to exploring the mountains. La Fortuna is a great base to explore around the Arenal Volcano National Park and the mountains. The town has a tourist vibe but its very laidback. No western hotels or food places but instead lots of local “sodas” to eat at and resorts of all price ranges. There is a central park that is full of life at night where we spent almost every night people watching. There’s a very family centered atmosphere with kids of all ages playing and picnicking.
Day 1: We started the day with big plans, but our first two stops ended up requiring reservations, so we decided to scrap the rest of the day and we headed home. We spent the morning getting laundry done and catching up on work in the room. We also booked all our outings for the rest of the week. Just so that the day wouldn’t be a total waist, we choose to have dinner at a hot springs resort. The area has lots of these resorts all with different packages and types of springs. The package we choose included a day pass to use all the different pools on the property and dinner. The property had around 10 pools ranging from 85f to 105f. Some were small and secluded and others more like lounging pools. One of the hotter ones has a swim up bar with overpriced drinks. The resort and springs were really nice but for anyone else going I would recommend just the springs as the food wasn’t worth the cost. You’ll find much better eats at better prices in town.
Day2: With reservations in hand we got a really early start a made our way to the Mistico Hanging Bridges. As you hike around the park you cross over several hanging bridges with amazing views of the rainforest and the volcano. This was one of the best hikes we have done in Costa Rica. Aside of the views our favorite part of the day was the animals. We saw one sloth climbing from one tree too another which is rare and then we were followed from above by a momma monkey and her baby. They went from treetop to treetop above us following us for around 45 minutes. Once we left the park we made our way to the next stop, a zipline park. We had never done a zipline before as we were waiting to do it here in the mecca of ziplining. It was so worth the wait and such an adrenaline rush. We spent several hours zipping around the jungle canopy smiling from ear to ear loving every minute. The amazing backdrop of the rainforest and the volcano was perfect. We had a perfect day amongst the clouds and treetops.
