Arenal Bee Garden, La Fortuna Park, El Salto, Arenal Volcano Ecological, El Choyin
Leaving Nicaragua, I was somewhat cautious regarding what was about to come next. Crossing the border to Costa Rica wasn’t out of the ordinary, and my first stop in this new country was the city of Liberia. It was relatively close to the border, and had a few parks around it. However, upon getting there and doing some research, it seemed that unfortunately there is no public transport available to get to those parks, which meant I had to either join a tour or rent a vehicle, both options were too expensive for my liking. On top of that, due to weather conditions all those parks were temporarily closed anyway.
Without thinking too much of it, I decided it’s best to not deal with any complications and headaches, and embarked on a six hours journey, with three different buses, to get to La Fortuna. Along the way, even though it was cloudy and gloomy, the views of Lake Arenal, as well as the famous volcano, were quite a sight, and I started to cheer up. And when I got to the hostel, for the first time since I left Santa Ana in El Salvador, I was happy to find the shower had hot water.
Again, upon doing some research it seems not many attractions around are accessible by public transport, but at least there was a nice view of Volcano Arenal. One of the places I could go to, which I’ve only seen mentioned once, was the Arenal Bee Garden. It was about half an hour walk from where I was staying in the city, which wasn’t too bad.
I was already smiling walking along the road to the garden, and that smile got bigger and wider when I got to the entrance. It was a beautiful garden, full of colorful plants and flowers.
I didn’t notice any maps or clear signs to indicate a specific direction I had to follow, so I just walked around, trying to discover all the different parts of this lovely garden. At every turn there were different plants and trees to look at. There were bees in there as well, as expected, as well as butterflies, other insects, and a few birds as well. One area was designated as a “frog area”, although I didn’t see any frogs when I was there.
There were two small towers in the bee garden, serving as viewpoints, from which I had a top view of the garden, merging quite well with the view of Volcano Arenal in the distance. Online, I’ve seen some pictures of a hedge maze that I thought was part of the garden, but I didn’t see anything like it when I was actually there. That being said, the garden itself felt like a maze, without any clear directions.
I spent about forty five minutes exploring the garden and then made my way back to the hostel. Along the way, I made a stop at La Fortuna Park, which for a change wasn’t just a boring plaza. It was a beautiful place, colorful, with a fountain in the center, although it was quite small and didn’t take more than a few minutes to walk around it.
Another attraction that was about half an hour walk from the city, in a different direction, was El Salto, or the rope swing. Along the river there was a place with, as the name suggests, a rope, which people can hold on to, swing themselves over the edge, and jump into the water.
There were quite a few people there by the time I showed up, sitting in the water, relaxing, and jumping from the rope. I looked at the rope jumping for a couple of minutes, and decided I’ll get back to that. The trail that led to the area kept going, and I wanted to know what I could find at the end of it. A few minutes later, I got to what appeared to be the end of the trail. I was completely by myself, and it seemed like a nice, secluded spot to just go into the river. I didn’t go in, as I wanted to go back to the main area, but it was nice to know there is something else in there.
Back with the crowd, I put my bag down where I could keep an eye on it, and got into the water for a little bit, to test it out. It was very cold, in contrast to the hot sun. I sat down, looked at other people jumping, and eventually decided it was my turn. I made my way over to the spot, grabbed the rope, and didn’t move. It was scary.
I took a few deep breaths and looked around me. The few people who were waiting didn’t pressure me, if anything they were encouraging, letting me know it’s okay to take my time with it a bit. After a word of advice from one of them, I couldn’t wait any longer. I pushed myself with the rope, and for a few scary moments I hoped I wouldn’t crash into the rocks. Then I was clear, over the water, and immediately let go. The scream that came out from my mouth was cut short the moment I hit the water, feeling quite happy that I made it. I rested a little more down at the bottom, got to chat with some of the other people there, and then made my way back to the hostel.
And then came the worst time I had in Central America, and one of the top worst experiences I had so far in my nomadic adventures (with Yushan being one of the other experiences). For nearly three weeks, the weather was alternating between heavy clouds, light rain, and heavy rain. For nearly three weeks I haven’t seen the sun. It was a very sad and depressing experience, during which I contemplated on simply leaving La Fortuna more than once. The thing that kept me there was Arenal Volcano. I wanted to hike there, and even though I knew it wasn’t possible to get to the top, I still hoped for good views at the hike.
But the weather continued in its horrible course, as if it was conducting a sociological war against me- and it was winning. Relentless, merciless, and extremely consistent, the weather gradually broke my mind and spirit, bringing me to the early stages of a mental breakdown.
But still, I didn’t want to give up on hiking the volcano. When the sun finally did come out for the first time, I couldn’t make it to the volcano in time. So I had to wait again, and I knew it was a matter of time before I’d be completely worn out. On an emotional and mental level, I couldn’t take much more of it.
Then one cloudy morning, a group of people in the hostel gathered, their minds set to go to Arenal, and I was invited to join them. Looking at the sky, I doubted it would be a good idea, and said so, but they were determined to go. After thinking about it for a little bit, I decided to join them. Part of it was simply to just “get it over with”, and another part of me thought that at the very least in a group the experience would be more enjoyable
With that, we faced the confusion of where exactly to go. It turned out there was a difference between the Ecoglide Park, the Ecological Park, and the National Park. The group decided to go to the Ecological park, since there was a shuttle that goes there, and it was also within walking distance of the free hot spring of El Choyin.
By the time the shuttle came by, light rain had started, foreshadowing the hike. We got to the entrance, and after a brief introduction to the area, we started walking. The rain didn’t stop, and all around everything just looked sad to me. When we got to the lake, it looked even sadder, and I couldn’t help but think it would’ve been so much better on a dry and sunny day. But I was already there, there was no turning back.
The group kept walking up along the trail, which was easy to walk on and didn’t present any challenges. There were a few sets of stairs, but other than that the main trail was pretty simple. For a little while we had a view of the lake, but it quickly disappeared behind the trees. And then the rain got stronger, which didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. At that point I made peace with the idea that it’s not going to be great. On the other hand, being with a group gave me the option to complain about it a bit, as well as exchange some stories and jokes.
It took us under an hour to get to the end of the trail, at which point the rain finally stopped for a bit. However, there was another disappointment at the top- the viewpoint was not overlooking anything. Sure, on that particular day the clouds covered the sky, but even on a cloudless day the view would have been blocked by all the rocks and trees scattered around. At best, maybe, there could be a view of the volcano, but on a good day it could be seen from La Fortuna center, and seeing it slightly closer wouldn’t have been impressive in my opinion. I expected to have a view of the surrounding area, which perhaps can be seen from the trails at the National Park, but I had no intention to try and go there. With each step, it just felt like I wasted my time waiting for an opportunity to get to the volcano, and it was a good thing I didn’t wait any longer than that.
On the way back, with me being in the lead for the most part, the group went on a side trail, which was less easy to walk on, even more so when the strong rain continued. It felt longer, but in reality it was pretty much the same amount of time, on a slightly more interesting path.
From there, as we had quite a bit of time before the shuttle back to the city, we walked over to El Choyin. I was told by another backpacker who I met about a week or so prior to the hike, that this hot spring is not that hot, and that I shouldn’t expect too much from it. When we actually got there, it turned out to be quite a good warning. The river was flowing strongly, which was nice to see, however the water was at a lukewarm temperature. It was still nice to sit in the water, and a way to pass the time, but coming to the area just for that would have been a complete waste.
On the way back to La Fortuna I didn’t feel happy about the experience, but rather relieved that I did it and now I could move on to another part of the country. Before doing so, I returned to both El Salto and the Bee Garden a couple more times. While it was the worst rainy season experience I had, on a good day, La Fortuna is a calming and beautiful place, and a recommended stop. But I needed to get out, and move on to a place with better weather.