La Fortuna, Thursday 22nd October

A lot of the group had booked adventure activities such as rafting and canyoning whilst I had booked nothing as I was unsure whether i would be ill or not. As it turned out after a good nights rest I felt fine so I had a lie in followed by a late breakfast. Then I had a chance to look around the hotel.

Reception and restaurant.

The swimming pool where I spent some of the morning swimming, chatting and just sitting in the sun waiting for the clouds around Volcan Arenal to clear.

A view of the cabanas and the well manicured gardens and despite the time of year in late October, there were still flowers blooming.

Whilst at the pool there was a large lizard that came looking for prey.

On a walk into town at lunch time I took the opportunity to take a photo of what we jokingly referred to as the ferret shop which every town has at least one.

It was late in the day but at least I got  a photo of Arenal although only the peak was free of cloud but the lower slopes were still obscured.

By sun set the clouds had cleared but looking towards the setting sun behind the volcano, I was on the wrong side of the mountain for a good photo

That evening half the group had booked into a local hot spring and spa. It was rather up market and therefore expensive but at least there were no crowds. My enjoyment was curtailed as despite getting a group discount on our pre booking, it would have cost less had we just turned up at the entrance (and cheaper still if we were locals and not foreigners).


Having to pay $6 for a locker on top of the entrance fee plus a beer costing $5.50 (cocktails started at $10) just made it seem overly expensive. Only one of the three water slides was open. A buffet meal was included which offered a good selection of dishes but regrettably the hot dishes were not hot. On the plus side it was quiet and well maintained. We had a good time despite some drawbacks and few of the others seemed to notice or comment on these points.