There was no plan for what to do in Costa Rica.  I had a flight, and the thought was to get a hire car, but I was about to leave Guatemala and I still hadn’t arranged anything.  I was headed to Costa Rica in the “green season”, which is their cunning way of saying it’s gonna be rainy.  Given that the Caribbean side of Costa Rica was likely better for weather in October, Puerto Viejo seemed like the place to head for.  I had even checked into hotels, but not got as far as booking anything.  I liked the adventure in this strategy.  On the morning that I was set to leave Guatemala I finally booked a hire car, and decided to book a hotel in La Fortuna.  Why La Fortuna… I had no idea. La Fortuna is not on the Caribbean side.

Life has gotten a bit more complicated since I managed to drown my phone in Belize and then lose my iPod in Guatemala.  This meant I had to get GPS in my hire car, otherwise I would be relying on Costa Rica road signs, and I knew that was not a good place to be.  Route 1 takes me to La Fortuna …mistakenly I thought Route 1 took me all the way there, so I wasn’t much worried about the GPS.  It was only when I got 30km past the turn off for San Ramon that I realized La Fortuna was getting further away, not nearer!  I worked my way back, and got myself back on track.  The roads were wet, with curved bendy turns after curved bendy turns.  It takes a lot of focus driving in Costa Rica, and it was slow going and the 130km journey took hours. ‘The long and winding road’ passed through my head more than a hundred times, as I meandered my way to the delightful, La Fortuna.  Staying on the road was a challenge, understanding exactly who was supposed to be give way at bridges, and to take extra care for any wandering animals.  The weather was pleasant as I arrived at the quaint town of La Fortuna in the north of Costa Rica.  I had read somewhere, sometime, that La Fortuna was the most attractive place in Costa Rica, so I thought, why not.

La Fortuna is great, a cool town 80-miles north west of the capital, San Jose, and the gateway to the Arenal Volcano Nation Park, providing lots of things to do within easy reach.  Having the hire car was a massive plus with coming here.  On my first day I headed to Mistico Park for my first experience of the cool hanging bridges.  A 7am start got me to the park by 7.30am just outside La Fortuna, it is a beautiful place, and especially glorious to see early in the morning as the animals were recently awoken, and before more tourists arrive. The hanging bridges are limited to 20 people at a time, but I had them all to myself!

It’s a long way down…

And the views are majestic..

The view of Arenal Volcano from Mistico Park.. a great place to visit!

From there I went to Sky Adventures, an eco adventure park in Arenal near La Fortuna – there are loads of things to do.  There are more hanging bridges here, an aerial tram and zip lining.  I’ve done zip lining before in South Africa, so I decided to go on the aerial tram for more magnificent views.  It is out of season right now, so it was pretty quiet all around, but you could see Sky Adventures was a well run and organized events center with lots to do for adventure but maintaining their commitment to being the best eco adventure park.

Last port of call for the long day was a stop at La Fortuna Waterfall, just as I got there and paid, it started to rain, then it started to pour.  Seeing waterfalls in the rain is a good thing, trying to get good photos in the weather was a nightmare!  I got absolutely drenched, again, the only good news was once I was done I could head back to the car and be back in the hotel within 15 minutes.  My shoes and clothes got so wet they are still drying out, 2 days later.

I rounded out my trip to La Fortuna with a visit to the Bogarin Sloth Park, where you are able to see sloths in the natural surroundings.  When I say see sloths, the only way you can see them if you are with a guide, cause without their knowledge you would never spot the sloths.  Then when you do see them they are high, high in the trees and you have to see them through the telephoto lens that the guide brings with them.  It was good to learn about the life and habits of the sloths, but the viewing was a bit underwhelming. That said, the park is great, lots of birds, insects, snakes and more making for a filled adventure.

Some of my bird pictures from around the park…