La Fortuna, Costa Rica - Days 20 & 21

Saturday, March 2

Andi, Tory, Aden and I were up early this morning to make the most of our day in La Fortuna. Andi made the kids pancakes for breakfast, then we packed our hiking backpack and drove to Arenal Observatory Lodge about 20 minutes away from our airbnb. We visited this national park when we vacationed in Costa Rica in 2016, and I remember this park being especially beautiful.

As we neared the Observatory Lodge, a man ushered us into a small dirt parking lot near the entrance. He said we could park here for $10 and hike the nearby trails. Something didn’t feel right. It had been a few years since we’d been here last, but I remember the lodge being really nice and parking our car in a paved lot. We soon realized this parking lot was run by a local Costa Rican offering a “knock off” park experience, so we returned to the road and entered into the real Arenal Observatory Lodge. It cost $36 to get into the park ($18/pp, free for small children) but it was worth it for the nice trails and facilities.

Boss Aden made an appearance this morning. Give this kid a park map and he turns into a dictator, I’m telling ya! We endured a small meltdown in the parking lot over which trail to take to the waterfall, but with some strategic convincing, we were able to convince Aden to start walking the correct way.

I remember this waterfall hike being difficult with the kids. It was wet and there were lots of steps. Today — not so much! Just goes to show how much Tory and Aden have grown up in the past three years and how much easier it’s getting to travel with them. Today, our walk to the waterfall was an easy, breezy 20 minutes. When we arrived, we had the beauty of this magical place all to ourselves.

Tory and Aden at the Arenal Observatory Lodge waterfall in January 2016 & today, in March 2019:

In all our travels, that photo from 2016 sticks out in my mind as one of my favorites. It was fun to re-create that moment today with our rapidly-growing kids!

Different than the last time we visited the park, today’s weather was sunny and beautiful. After the waterfall, we continued hiking to the hanging bridge.

There’s a great observation deck with views of Volcano Arenal, so we walked over there next to see the volcano up close. The main reason I wanted to come back to this observation lodge was to use it as a learning opportunity to teach Tory and Aden about volcanoes. Unfortunately, there was a giant cloud blocking the top of the volcano today so we didn't get a clear view, but we were still able to see part of its shape.

We walked over to the museum next to learn more about Volcano Arenal. I was expecting a big room filled with educational materials about volcanoes, similar to what you’d find in the United States, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The museum was a small room containing a few informational signs about the 1968 eruption. Disappointing, but we made the most of it.

Even so, we enjoyed our time at Arenal Observatory Lodge. The grounds are beautiful and the hiking paths were empty this morning. Since it was early in the morning, we had the whole place to ourselves.

We left the Observatory Lodge and headed back into La Fortuna for an early lunch. Andi bought the kids a pastry from a local bakery, and then he and I ate ordered from Organico Fortuna restaurant. Andi had avocado toast w/ an egg and I had a green chicken salad. The food was very good.

Next, we had a special surprise for Tory and Aden. The Arenal area is known for its hot springs and last time we visited, we found some free ones off the side of the highway. This time, we decided to buy a day pass at an area hotel. Baldi has the most expansive hot spring facility in the La Fortuna area — 28 pools that are hot, cool and various sizes. They even have a Kids Zone with water slides.

I’m honestly not sure what to say about his place! The pools were big and clean, but it was such an odd experience swimming in hot water. It was pretty expensive to stay at the hotel, so I’d imagine if you came to stay at the resort you’d spend most of your time at the pool everyday. There were kids and families there, but it was more of a therapeutic experience vs. a waterpark experience. Aden wanted to go down the waterslide in the kid’s zone, so Andi tried it first because it look intense. He came out of the water and said there was no way Aden was going. “It was the fastest water slide I’ve ever been on,” Andi said. Later we saw a sign that said the waterslide in the adult pool could reach speeds of 27 mph!

The four of us spent the whole afternoon at Baldi Hot Springs, and then returned to our airbnb for dinner. Andi made sloppy joes with the tiniest frying pan known to man - ha! This airbnb is equipped with the basics, so I assume most people that stay here typically dine out since its located in downtown La Fortuna.

A little while later, Andi took the kids to get gelato down the street and I stayed back at the airbnb to read my book. They returned about a half an hour later to say there was a big party happening downtown, so I put on my shoes and we all walked back down there. By the time we got there though, the parade of horses was already finished. I think it was some sort of processional to a rodeo happening in town.

We stood in the street and listened to a country Spanish singer for a while, and then walked back to our airbnb. I was exhausted for some reason, so the kids and I went to bed and Andi stayed up later reading his book on our outdoor patio.

Sunday, March 3

Today, we’re saying good-bye to La Fortuna. Andi and I packed our bags and loaded the car while Tory and Aden ate breakfast. Then, we drove to the La Fortuna Waterfalls to check it out before we left town.

We didn’t visit this waterfall the last time we were here, and already we could tell it was different than most we’ve hiked so far on our trip. This was an actual facility and cost $18/pp (kids were free) to get in. I wasn’t sure it was worth that much money to see a waterfall. At the risk of sounding like a travel snob, we’ve seen plenty of waterfalls on our trip so far, and we didn’t have to pay anything. Andi said, “We’re here, let’s do it.” So we did.

It was 472 stairs down to the waterfall — we counted — and once we starting walking, I could see why they charged admission. The stairs were paved and in very nice condition. It was an easy walk down.

There’s also a certified lifeguard on duty at this waterfall because the current is so strong. They don’t advise swimming in the water, but people do it anyway. The lifeguard told Andi he has to throw the life rope to at least 5 people a week — not because they’re drowning, but because they can’t swim out of the current. You won’t find me getting into the water because I am not a strong swimmer. Andi took the kids for a quick, shallow dip and they said the water was also really cold.

Dripping wet after her dip into the water, Tory slipped and fell backwards on her butt. She cried loudly (which I’m sure it did hurt!), so that was our cue to move on. We walked over to another part of the waterfall that was shallow and more calm, and Aden swam with the fish for a bit.

The La Fortuna waterfall were really beautiful and worth the $18, I think. I’m glad we stopped before leaving town. I was also really proud of Tory and Aden for climbing the 472 stairs back to the top without a single complaint.

We hopped back in the car and made the 1 1/2 drive to Chilamate, our next destination. Chilamate is in the Sarapique Providence of Costa Rica, and a town Andi and I had never heard of before. We wanted a place to stop and spend a few days on our way to the East Coast and a friend of a friend recommended we stay in Chilamate. The Sarapique region is known for its beautiful rivers and specifically, white water rafting. This roadway was, by far, in the best condition we’ve traveled on thus far!

Upon our arrival, we drove around the small town to get a lay of the land. There wasn’t much here except for a few sodas, a meat market, a few small hotels and rafting outfitters. I picked a seafood restaurant for lunch called La Cueva del Marisco. Generally, we haven’t had the best restaurant service in Costa Rica so far, but this place was excellent. Great service, fantastic seafood menu, and a very clean place. The electricity went out in the town while were were there and they still managed to cook our food in a timely manner! Aden loved the outdoor bar seating.

We drove to the Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat to see if we could check in early for our stay. It was only 1:00pm but the owner welcomed us in with open arms and said we could hang out in the lobby for as long as we liked until our family suite was ready. This is a different type of accommodation than we’ve stayed in so far on our trip. We like airbnbs because it’s easy to have a kitchen and separate bedroom for the kids, but Andi and I thought this particular eco lodge might be a nice change of pace for a few days. The owners has a family with young children, and all the online reviews say this resort is very family friendly.

There were signs when we arrived directing us to park our car in a grassy parking lot. Andi and I weren’t sure if we’d have to lug all our stuff down the road and over the bridge to the resort, but an employee with a golf cart pulled up and motioned for us to load our stuff into his trailer. He drove and we followed him behind into the lodge.

Meghan, the owner, gave us a tour of the property and then showed us where the free coffee coffee, tea and cookies were in the lobby. Tory, Aden and I sat down and played Connect Four at a table, then another employee brought a plate of fresh watermelon for us to enjoy. We waited there for an hour or so until our room was finally ready.

While we were lounging in some a hammock, we saw about 10 channel-billed toucans in the tree. That was fun to spot! Toucans were on Aden’s list of animals he wanted to see in Costa Rica.

The Chilmate Rainforest Eco Retreat has private rooms with one, two, and three beds or a family suite with four beds and a kitchen. We reserved the family suite which was similar to a studio apartment.

After we settled in, we walked over to an open soccer field on the property. The owners son was playing soccer with a few of his friends kids and a younger girl about Tory’s age was sitting on a bench watching them. We sat down next to her and Andi helped strike up a conversation between she and Tory. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to give the kids a nudge in making new friends.

For the next hour, Aden attempted to hang with the big boys playing soccer while Tory and Kiara played on the sidelines. When the other boys left, Meghan’s two kids Aedan and Kiara played with Tory and Aden some more.

The bugs were eating us up alive on the soccer field, so we moved into the lobby area with all the board games. The kids continued to play together and made a new friend named Cleo, who was four. Cleo and her parents, Adam and Super, were from Canada and had also just checked into the lodge that day. The kids were all having a blast playing together and Andi and I instantly connected with Adam and Super, too. It was fun to swap travel stories and share tips from places we’d been in Costa Rica.

Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat offers an option to add-on dinner, and we all decided to do that. There’s a kitchen in our studio apartment, but it’s pretty basic and we thought it’d be more fun to hang out with the other guests.

We met another family from Canada also with a four-year-old daughter, and invited them to join us for dinner. The kids all sat together at a big picnic table and the six of us parents also sat together at another picnic table. We had the best evening! The food was also really tasty and nice not to have to cook ourselves. It was typical Costa Rican food — fish, rice & beans, salad, and pulled chicken. The cassava casserole was the best though.

After dinner, the kids ran around like wild maniacs wearing headlamps on their heads. The greatest part is that no one minded the noise. Everyone had a great time. We turned in for the night around 8:00pm and put the kids to bed. I won’t lie that I was a little excited for us each to have our own beds. We’ll all sleep great. Tomorrow, we’ve got a special activity in store down the Sarapique River.