I was soooo happy to be back on my motorcycle again heading to La Fortuna after a month in Alajuela Costa Rica. It had been a month since I was last on the road.
Nahua Chocolate
Before getting too far, my first stop was Nahua Chocolate. Why there, you might be saying 🙂 Well, my oldest son Mike did his Masters of Business Administration at Cambridge University in England. Part of his coursework was a group project to attend San Jose Costa Rica and do a consulting project with Nahua Chocolate.
I was excited to go to the coffee shop and have my morning coffee and share in my son’s experience.
I saw the store from the freeway and it took a few drive bys before I broke the law and exited the freeway off of a entrance ramp. It seems to me that motorcycles are allowed to do anything here so I was taking advantage of that.
The entrance to the small mall where the store was located had a gate across it and a security guard. The guard wouldn’t let me cross to take a picture.
Back on the freeway I went and found a place to pull off. Risking my life ha ha I ran across 6 lanes of freeway to get this picture.
Arenal Hostel Resort
The road to La Fortuna was awesome. It was full of curves and little villages. Too bad it was a short 2 hour ride. I really do need to take more photos of my rides. Sorry.
The place I booked in La Fortuna was the Arenal Resort Hostel. At the reception I met Jenny. She was so friendly. I am finding that about hostels. I like it. People are friendly, both the staff and the people staying there. Perfect for a solo traveler, even if it is a younger crowd.
The hostel was like a little resort. I got a free drink upon signing in and went to the poolside bar.
Because I reserved a room with a private bathroom, my room was across the street. But all the action was in the bar area of course. People hung out at the bar and on the hammocks. Well …. the few people there were that is. It is the off season right now.
My motorcycle had secure parking as well. Perfect location!
La Fortuna
La Fortuna as a town was not very charming. It mainly consists of adventure companies trying to sell tours. It seemed like every second business was a tour operator. Just not a place to walk around. The focal point of the town is the Arenal Volcano.
The one exception to the unremarkable town was the central park. It was well manicured and beautiful flowers were blooming.
Basically though, La Fortuna is a home base for adventure tour companies.
Adventures
There is lots to do in La Fortuna. Everything from rafting, horsebacking riding, hiking, ecological cruises, swinging bridges, and zip lines. The one catch is that they are ALL very expensive! If I were on vacation I would have done several of them.
As I have mentioned several times before, on a vacation you save up and then when you go you have a great time doing all sorts of things and eating at nice places. When it is your daily life like it is for me, you can’t afford to do all these things. So I need to pick and choose just like I would if I was living at home.
La Fortuna is also famous for their hot springs. I decided to do that. Even that was expensive. It cost $45 US to get into the hot spring and have a dinner.
Baldi Hot Spring
Jenny said Baldi Hot Springs had the most pools and was the busiest. That is what I chose.
The pools were on a hill and the further up the hotter they were.
At the top was a kids area.
I would love to take my grandkids there!
Most of my time was spent in the jacuzzi afterwhich I went to the poolside bar for a coke before dinner.
So how much did the can of coke cost? Well ….. over $6 Canadian!! For a can!
My “cheap” Hot Springs ended up costing me over $80 Canadian including the taxi to get there.
La Fortuna is a place to spend money on adventures. I enjoyed it there but I would have enjoyed it more if I had the money to go on all the adventures available.
My Route to La Fortuna on September 10, 2017
My Location on September 11 and 12, 2017
