Keep Calm and Eat Gallo Pinto

A Gallo Pinto breakfast

Ahh, the breakfast of champions. The Gallo Pinto is Costa Rica's standard breakfast. Consisting of rice and black beans with scrambled eggs on the side and, if you are lucky, fried banana. It is a hearty way to start the day, and we did indeed start most days with this gluten free staple. 

After breakfast, still in Tortuguera, we swam in the pool in the rain and then headed off at lunchtime for our next destination, La Fortuna, and its main attraction the Arenal Volcano. After arriving at the Sunset Inn we checked out the tour options and came across a 9hr, 11km hike around the volcano base, over muddy rainforest canyons, alongside several waterfalls and finishing at a hot springs dip in the evening. Sounded just like our cup of tea and we immediately put ourselves on the list for the next day.

Daniel Ryan from Red Lava Tours was our tour guide for the day and along with a great bunch of travellers from around the globe we set off the next morning for a day full of adventure. Daniel was a true environmentalist, refusing to use insect repellent because it is bad for the forest soil and the wildlife. In response he had contracted Dengue fever twice and Zika once. He was full of great stories and crazy ideas and would climb trees at will like he was half monkey.

The day was typical rainforest weather, dark, wet and muddy, but that just added to the atmosphere of the day. It was indeed a very challenging hike with most of the views obstructed by the bad weather. It even had a set of seven canyons called the Devil's Comb with difficult climbs and descents that challenged everybody. Nobody complained though with everybody chipping in and helping everybody else. Whenever you slipped into a slimy mud hole there would be a hand to help you up, or helping you balance down the path or yelling encouragement while climbing a rope. Such a great bunch and such a sense of accomplishment finishing the main hike.

Brave swimmers at the Danta Waterfall

At the Danta river and waterfall some of the group decided to go for a swim and then it was on to the tropical gardens at the Arenal Observatory. It was getting dark by this point, but there was enough light to see the fabulous Red Eyed Tree Frog that captivated us all.

Enthralled

Onto the bus we went, only to stop by the side of the road at some free natural hot springs. It was a bit of a trek down and pitch black and we literally fell into the running water that was wonderful and warm, especially on our very tired muscles. Very strong rum cocktails came out of nowhere and Daniel went around and gave us all mud facials. A perfect end for a perfect day, if slogging through mud, climbing up and sliding down steep slippery jungle canyons on a wet miserable cold day is your idea of fun. Hell yeah 

We did very little the next day because I could barely walk, every step was agony, recovery was going to take a few days…The day after that we headed off to explore the Monteverde Cloud Forest, leaving the Arenal Volcano behind us. 

The Arenal Volcano