There were a couple options on how to get to Arenal. We could take the standard public transportation again. Unfortunately, Fortuna is not on a direct path from Monteverde as it must go around Lake Arenal. Total ride - something like 6 - 8 hours. Enticing? NO.
Our other option was taking private taxi van transport directly down the mountain to the lake, float across, and hook up with another taxi van on the other side. Total ride - 3 hours and only $21. Accepted? you bet!
The ride down the mountain from Monteverde was extremely scenic. The boat ride across Lake Arenal was likewise. We had views of two volcano on opposite sides of the lake (one being Arenal). A huge thunderstorm (notice a theme?) was approaching and hit about the time we reached the other side.
We stayed in another quaint location, a small hotel this time...no A/C again. It was a little warmer in Fortuna...mid 80's but the humidity was oppressive here at those temps. We adapted quickly if we wanted to get any sleep.
We decided to hike on our first full day in town. We hired a taxi to another reserve and had a hike planned to summit a inactive volcanic cone named Cerro Chato. Mistake - starting late. Problem - first half of the "vertical" hike was exposed in the sun. It was a five mile hike and was easily the hardest short hike I've ever done. One think I've learned from Costa Rica and Hawaii, if a hike involved assaulting a volcano, it's going to be steep...very steep. Volcanoes aren't gentle climbs. Rocks from the top take the path of least resistance down and so they ALL build fairly steep.
The second half of the hike was in rainforest jungle. It was the trail and then there was dense vegetation on both sides. I was on the lookout for snakes the entire length. Joel's in a bit better shape than me and plowed up the thing...but I didn't linger too far behind and managed to keep a pretty good clip with some occasional stops to accommodate my screaming lungs. Scripps doesn't exactly prepare me for this line of work with the deskjob.
The view at the top of the cone was a very, very rewarding view of the adjacent bigger brother, Arenal. Arenal is the picture attached to the blog.
Arenal is steep. I'm used to the shield volcanoes in Hawaii that cover hundreds of square MILES. All of Arenal is right before you here. It is much more of a visual cone-shaped volcano than the immense ones in Hawaii (and there are reasons for that btw).A hike down into the crater and then the bottom of the cone provided a couple rewards. Joel went swimming in the crater's center where a deep, green lake was formed. I elected to wait until the bottom of the hike and wait for the La Fortuna waterfall and deepwater pool that was at the bottom of the falls. Both were very refreshing after a very hard hike.
With Day 4 complete, I'll post about our activities on Day 5 later...
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