Vamos A La Playa

On Monday, Ally, Emilie, Jason, and I went on a hiking tour. Along with the people picked up from four other resorts, we stuffed a 15-person bus and went to a hiking trail beside the Cerro Chato and Arenal volcanoes, where we put the provided lunches in our backpacks and started our big loop for the day.

Starting the hike with a hanging bridge with a 5-person maximum (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We began by walking through the forest and saw some wildlife and plants, along with stops with volcano views. I was a little worried that all of our 8-mile hike would be slow and over fairly flat ground, but I was enjoying seeing the animals and learning about the plants. We came across a colony of leafcutter ants who were carrying leaves that were three times their size across the path in neat rows. Our guide, Nano, also picked up an ant and showed us how it could hold an entire leaf if it needed to.

Emilie sniffs a citronella leaf (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The insane strength of a leafcutter ant (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We also hiked by a massive tree that had a vine hanging from it, and we were invited to play out our Tarzan dreams. Ally and Jason both gave it a try, and Emilie and I were content to watch and take pictures. I was just blown away by the width and height of the tree - it had obviously been there a very long time.

Jason swinging around in the trees (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Arenal Volcano (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Jungle flower (Photo/Jason Rafal)

As we were hiking, we saw some spider monkeys climbing around high up in the trees. We took a few minutes to watch a take pictures, and then started moving on. Within a couple of minutes, though, we heard the monkeys start chasing each other around and making irritated noises, and because seeing a monkey spat is one of the lures of visiting Costa Rica, we backtracked to watch. It looked like some sort of territorial issue, and there was much chasing between trees and yelling. One of the monkeys had a baby clinging to its back as it jumped around.

A spider monkey doing…something (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A baby spider monkey clings to its mother as she moves from tree to tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After a couple more hours hiking through the jungle, during which time we stopped while our guide explained how to get out to three tourists who, concerningly, didn’t appear to speak a lot of Spanish or carry any water, we came out of the forest into a lava field. This was pretty reminiscent of avalanche fields in Colorado - a wide area where all the trees have been wiped out that’s filled with large rocks. These ones, unsurprisingly, were all lava rocks.

We hiked along the lava field to a lovely stream, where we stopped for lunch. It was beautiful, and a great place to stop in the shade for a bit. There were surprisingly few bugs, considering that we were in the jungle. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, Jason lured them all away.

Lunchtime at the creek (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch, the hiking got more strenuous. I am used to Colorado hikes, which generally go up rather steeply for a while and then back down to the parking lot. Instead of a direct up a down, this hike went up and down dozens of times. It was also steeper, slicker, and had fewer rocks to brace against. For the very steep slopes, there were ropes tied to trees that we had to use to pull ourselves up the slopes and brace ourselves going down. Our guide would help everyone up or down from a steep ledge and then take off into the forest to get ahead of us before the next one, whooping and making Donald Duck noises as he went. Whenever we had all gathered and were ready to go on, he would say “vamos a la playa!” and take off. This confused us at first because we were nowhere near a beach, but everyone bought in after the first five times and started saying it themselves.

Some more technical hiking (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Eventually, we exited the forest and walked through a working farm. At the farm, we saw horses, adorable pigs, a big spider, and tiny adorable organic pineapples. There was also a field of Brahman bulls that our guide fed leaves to. Interestingly, the farm was also some sort of tourist attraction. We walked across a couple of hanging bridges and then to natural pool with a waterfall. Our guide had extolled the virtues of the waterfall, and said the best way to view it was from behind the water. When we got there, we saw that one would have to jump into the pool and swim around to the back side of the waterfall, which our guide immediately did. Tentatively, a few other people in our group stripped down to undergarments and waded in. Of our immediate group, only Ally did, and the rest of us felt a little better about chickening out when she confirmed how cold it was.

A posing pig at the farm (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A large and frightening banana spider (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Nano standing on the other side of the waterfall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After everyone got out of the water and dressed, we walked to another resort, the Arenal observatory lodge. It felt like we were trespassing as we visited the very small museum about the Arenal volcano and its surrounding area and used the bathrooms there to change into swimsuits. After changing, we were directed to the panoramic deck, where we hung out in the fading afternoon sunlight and admired views of the volcano, the lake, and a weird fake tree that the lodge stuck pieces of watermelon to so that birds would entertain the onlookers. We also saw some adorable animals called coatis, which I unfortunately do not have a picture of. And then, in a move that won over the Rafals entirely, we were fed coffee and cookies before getting back into our van, Grace, to drive to a hot springs.

The view of Lake Arenal from the deck (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The watermelon tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We finished the day at a public hot springs, where we sat in the river, got volcanic mud masks, and had Fresca mixed with Cacique Guaro poured into our mouths by our guide. The entire experience was amazing and surreal. We parked right on the road and got into the water under a bridge, and the entire river was the temperature of a slightly cool hot tub. As we hung out, drinking and soaking, many other groups showed up. By the time it was fully dark and we were leaving, the spot had gone from being shared by a couple of groups to a rather crowded party. As people got there, they would prop up some flashlights to create light, open the alcohol they brought, and find themselves a place to wade in. It was a very satisfying end to a very full day.

The hot springs before it got dark and crowded (Photo/Ally White)

Mud masks in the hot springs (Photo/Ally White)