500 Stairs

Today was one of our free days. Most of us got together and rented a bus to go to Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna. This city has the Arenal Volcano. We saw the volcano, but not the top of it like at the Poas Volcano. It was a three hour drive, and half of it (at least) was made of up really curvy roads, making some car sick. We ended up getting there 45 minutes before the Hot Springs opened, but we were able to entertain ourselves. The hot springs were amazing! They got hotter as you went up, and there were many pools. The first pools had swim up bars where later we all got smoothies. Continuing up there were some water slides, which were a ton of fun. At the very top- a really cool man-made waterfall with scolding hot water (though some people thought it felt great). I stayed in the water as long as possible, and was very pruney by the end. It felt so great to get to swim around again. It had been too long! After the hot springs, we went to a Mexican restaurant in town that was pretty good. I tried fried Yuka, which is like a potato and tasted similar to french fries, just less greasy.

After lunch, we headed to the La Fortuna waterfall. It was 500 steps up and down, some very steep and complicated, but we made it! The waterfall was beautiful, and I will definitely post pictures later! I didn't have my bathing suit on anymore, so I just got my feet in. It was fun watching the few that got all the way in attempt to swim toward the fall. Heading back up the stairs was difficult, but my group knocked it out quickly to get it out of the way. After that I watched the waterfall from a lookout tower, and did not want to leave. It was then time to head back, and we were all wiped out. After an hour nap, we all started waking up to a very, very foggy evening. I am surprised the bus driver was able to drive those curvy roads with so little visibility. We entertained ourselves with joking and singing the rest of the way back. Some of us then ordered pizza, and I went with a group to a nearby Chinese restaurant. She spoke Cantonese, and so does our friend Patrick, so he ended up ordering for us since the menu was in Spanish. It was fun.