.... All pictures can be viewed
HERE
It was awesome and I definately need to go back when I have more time. We were pretty rushed because Mabel didn't arrive until 9pm on friday and had to be at the airport at 8am on Monday.
So we hopped on a bus at 6:15am saturday morning and started on the 4.5 hour bus ride to La Fortuna, the town next to the volcano.
A shot of Arenal Volcano:
There was way too much for us to see everything, but we hiked about 25km and climbed about 1000 vertical meters (3000 ft.) during the 24 hours we were actually there =p Thank god I've been on that Stairmaster everyday or I would have been toast.
Some highlights were the Hanging Bridges Hike. A short but beautiful trail through the rainforest. Some of the bridges were over 45meters (150 feet) off the jungle floor!
A picture from one of the bridges:
Add to give you an idea of the heights we had to climb (see the people on the bridge at the top of the pic?):
Here is a short video of some leaf cutter ants that were busy doing their day chores:
http://www.adultinsider.com/Cloner/arenal/antstree.MPG
Next on the agenda were the hotsprings... yes I could have paid $55 to sit in the pools and gardens of Tabacon Thermal Resort...were they basically just channel the hot river water into a series of several concrete pools while trying to sell you over priced drinks and spa treatments.... but that isn't really my thing, so we took a short hike and went right to the source, the volcano heated river itself!
The water is about 98F (32C) and feels FANTASTIC!
Here is a short vid of the area we were at..
http://www.adultinsider.com/Cloner/arenal/hotspring.MPG
The following day we decided to hike to La Fortuna Waterfall, with it's secluded 180ft (50 meter) drop, it was quite worth the 7km, 1000 vertical foot climb.
It's crystal blue, cool waters were perfect for swimming in after the strenuous hike.
A short video of the falls to help you get the scale.
http://www.adultinsider.com/Cloner/arenal/waterfall.MPG
There was so much more to see and do, and I'll go back again when I'm not so pressed for time
