La Fortuna, Arenal, y Jaco

Last weekend our group went on an excursion to Arenal Volcano.  Before we arrived at our hotel, we stopped in La Fortuna where we hiked down to the waterfall and swam.  Which brings me to Brittany gets hurt #1.  We were all swimming near the waterfall, having a good time, and then I was getting tired of getting knocked around by the waves the waterfall was making, so I walked to the other side where the water was much calmer.  I spotted a log hanging above the water.  Of COURSE I want to climb up on it.  The rocks are slippery but I'm convinced I can climb up them and onto the log.  So I'm almost to the log when my feet slip from under me and I slide only about 4 feet down the rocks before I catch myself.  That's it (nothing too serious, mom).  Just have a scraped knee and a bruised thigh.  But after a sprained ankle in Utah, I was already sick of getting hurt, even if it wasn't a huge deal.  Eventually I got up on the log and some other people followed.  Anyway, here are some pretty pictures of my favorite spot of the weekend :)

After La Fortuna we headed to our hotel, Los Lagos. I wish we had more time in Arenal, but since we only stayed one night, we just stayed at the hotel the entire time.  I was definitely okay with this because it was amazing!  It had hot springs, cold pools, a giant waterslide, crocodiles, butterflies, frogs, and delicious food.  I guess the volcano is usually covered by clouds so many people who visit don't even get to see it.  We were lucky enough to see it upon our arrival and within the time it took us to check into the hotel, it was covered in clouds.  That night a group of us played some basketball in the rain and hiked up to the Arenal volcano and Arenal lake lookout.  After our hike we had dinner then hit up the hot springs and pool.  Brittany gets hurt #2 but this one was worth it.  A group of us decided to go play tag at this 2 ft deep pool that had a volcano structure in the middle of it.  The volcano had water flowing down it and 4 entrances/exits.  It was so much fun running around and through the volcano and hiding in it.  We switched from normal tag to freeze tag (to unfreeze someone you had to swim under their legs) then as I was running through the volcano and exiting it, I didn't duck low enough and smacked my head into the rock.  Needless to say we ceased playing, but it didn't ruin the night...I just sat in the hot springs with a bag of ice on my head haha.

We didn't have school last monday so about 25 of us took a day trip to Jaco, a beach town about 2 hours away on the Pacific  Coast.  Rented a surfboard even though surfing is NOT my forte haha.  But it was still fun and was only $10 for the whole day.  We ate at this place called Papas y Burgers.  They had really good smoothies and soy burgerrrssss.  Yum.  Except this past weekend we went there again and the service and food were no bueno.  But yeah, yay for Jaco!

So LAST weekend was La Fortuna, Arenal, y Jaco.

This past weekend was Manuel Antonio.  That post is coming soon :)