Today I went to the Arenal National Volcano Park. Again, I woke up early and packed up my stuff. I then checked out and went to find food. I ate at a spot not to far from the bus station as I only had 39 minutes before the bus came. I went to the bus stop a little before 8 am and waited. I met 2 girls from Toronto at the bus stop who were also going to the park but didn't speak Spanish and wasn't sure what bus to take and where to get off. So we got to chatting and they told we they were going to tag along with me. The bus driver let us on at 8:30 am (schedule says 8) and off we went. We got off at the stop to get off at the park and prepared for our 2 km walk. While we were walking a guy pulled up and gave us a ride to the park entrance. We got to the entrance and paid the fee and got maps. The guy gave us all maps begrudgingly. I guess he thought one was enough for all of us but I paid so I want my map. Then we began our hike around the park. I like this park a lot better than the cloud forest. We hiked a bit and were at first disappointed by the first view point so we were a bit wary of the rest of the park. However the next view point redeemed the park. The park wasn't that difficult to hike and we saw a lot of lizards and maybe an iguana. We also saw some animal that I can't remember the name. It didn't run away when we came near so I am almost positive that it's someone's pet that they put there to attract the tourist. We also saw some really old huge trees which were awesome. We also climbed into a couple of tree which I am not sure if you are suppose to. Then there was a branch that looked like a swing that was high up off the ground (over my head). When we came upon it a little girl was sitting on the branch with her family taking pictures. So we decided we would try to get up. There was a tree nearby so you can use the tree to get up. When I first tried I couldn't get up. The next time I tried I could only hang from it. I took a break while the other girls tried then I tried again. I finally got up (my accomplishment for the day). We got done with hiking early so then we rested for a bit. Then we decided to start to walk back down the dirt road to go wait at the bus stop. We talked about hitchhiking but none of us really tried. We had walked maybe 5-10 minutes when someone that had been driving by stopped and reversed. It was 2 older gentlemen and they asked us if we wanted a ride. Of course! They asked us where we were going and we told them into town but to drop us off wherever and then we could walk or catch the bus. They had just come from ziplining while their wives had a spa day. Their hotel is actually before town but they took us all the way to town and dropped us off. This was great because we got into town around 1:20 pm and now I could catch the 2:45 pm bus straight to San Jose. The other option was to go to a different town and then catch a bus to San Jose (a longer day). So I went back with the girls to their hotel and rested for a bit. We exchanged emails and then I went back to my hostel. I grabbed my stuff and walked to the bus station to wait. Oh I forgot to say I have a friend in San Jose that I had contacted to stay with. I had told them I was going to be in around 7:30 pm or so as the bus ride takes around 4.5 hours and sometimes longer (per the girls I met today). The bus ride seemed long but I actually got in around 6:20 pm. So then a lady let me use her phone to call my friend and they came and got me around 7:45pm. My friend came and got me and we went to their place. And that's my day. Buses, buses, buses. Travel, travel, travel...
Fire truck with name backwards... |
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