La Fortuna, Costa Rica (16 Dec 2009 - 18 Dec 2009)

La Fortuna is generally known as the gateway to the active Arenal Volcano. If you're lucky, you might just see lava flowing on the backside of the volcano at night. The small town possesses a sort of sleazy charm and abounds with equally sleazy Ticos selling a wide variety outdoor adventure tours, including whitewater rafting, canopy tours (ziplines), and canyoning (rappelling down waterfalls).

Parque Central and Volcan Arenal

Volcan Arenal Hike

My tour of Volcan Arenal amounted to not much more than a three-hour hike through the pouring rain, although it was nonetheless enjoyable. When we reached the lava viewing point, the entire volcano was obscured by clouds. I could not even see the base of the volcano, much less any lava flows near the top. I didn't mind, however, because I knew that it could not have come even close to matching my lava experience on Volcan Pacaya.

The tour ended with a dip in the "local" hot springs, which I thought were pretty cool--that is, until the next day, when I visited the more developed Baldi Hot Springs, which featured a series of 30 cascading pools of varying temperatures, crowned by 3 of the fastest waterslides I have ever been down.

Hanging Bridge

Monkey

Coatimundi

Leaf-Cutter Ants

Canyoning

We traced a river through a tropical canyon and rappelled/down-climbed a series of waterfalls that stood in our path. I've always thought canyoning looked fun, but I had my doubts as to how exhilarating it could be after spending a few fire seasons rappelling out of helicopters for a living. Perhaps law school has made me soft, because I must admit that my stomach slightly knotted up during the final rappel down the face of a 200m high waterfall.