Although I already had an idea about where I wanted to go during my 2.5 weeks in Costa Rica, my initial plan changed the day I arrived in San Jose. Because I meet Sophie and Kathi, both from Austria as well, at the hostel, where I stayed for the first night. And it even turned out that they were staying at the same hostel (in the same room!) as I did at our first stop, La Fortuna. So after I got some urgently needed sleep, the following morning, I got picked up by the shuttle, which I had already booked beforehand, and dropped off at La Choza Inn. Once I got there, I met Sophie and Kathi again and explored La Fortuna with them. First, we visited the Sloth Watching Trail and then walked around the town for a while. In the late afternoon, we then had lunch and slowly made our way back to the hostel.
The following morning after breakfast, Sophie and I went on the hike to the Arenal Volcano as Kathi was not feeling very well. And although it started raining right when we started the hike, until we reached the top, the sun came through. As the sky opened up, we even got a full view of the volcano without any clouds covering the top. Afterward, we went to the nearby free hot springs, Rio Chollin, and relaxed there for a while before heading back to town. And as it started pouring while we had some urgently needed coffee, we stayed at the café a little longer.
Monday was already our last day in La Fortuna. So, in the morning, we picked up Rieke and headed to Tenorio Volcano National Park. And again, as soon as we got there, it started raining. However, when we finally reached Rio Celeste, it was definitely worth hiking in the rain. Back at the national park’s entrance, we continued driving to our next stop, Monteverde. By the time we got there, it was already dark and raining – again. And compared to La Fortuna, Monteverde was also quite chilly as it has an elevation of 1,330 m. So, Sophie and Kathi were so kind and dropped me off at Selina Monteverde, where I was only looking forward to getting into the hot tub and to bed later on.
After breakfast the next day, I took the local bus to Santa Helena, where I met Kathi and Sophie again. Together, we then went to Sky Adventures Monteverde Park and did the hanging bridge tour there. Back in town, we got some coffee and then picked up Rieke again to head on to the third stop on our road trip, Santa Teresa. And so much can already be said now: it was one hell of a crazy and adventurous eight-hour car ride there. So, stay tuned to read about it soon!
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