Day 51: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We can`t stand being hounded for a stupid tour anymore! We`re checking out of Cabinas Jerry and into the ´´old´´ Gringo Pete´s, that is, The Sleep Inn. It`s a tiny place, kinda grimey but decent enough for another night or two in La Fortuna ($7/person for a double room shared bath). Today we`re getting some errands and administrative things done so nothing terribly exciting for posting.

Main Square Park and view of church (photo courtesty ofhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jaiso)

We`ve booked transportation to Baldi Hot Springs tomorrow with Mr. Lava Lava, the guy who runs Gringo Pete`s, very nice guy. His ´´tour´´ for Baldi includes to/from transport (go at a certain time but call him when you are ready to come back and he comes to pick up) and the entrance ticket to the Baldi resort at a discounted rate (cheaper than buying at the door and anywhere else in town, about $18 total/person). Looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow where the most difficult decision we will face is what temperature of water do we prefer to be in.

Travel Tip:

La Fortuna is a very safe town during the day and at night. You will see when you arrive. It`s a very small, laid back place with a slow pace. There are supermarkets, gift shops, and restaurants all over the place. It`s a rather touristy town but offers lots of outdoors activities like zip lining, volcano hiking, going to the waterfall, and visiting the hot springs. There are 2 resorts, Baldi and Tabacon, but there is also a natural hot springs that is free but is, of course, not as nice as the resort. Tour operators offer packages to both resorts and several of the volcano tour packages offer stops at the natural hot springs before going to the volcano.

Also, the main square in town has a really lovely garden and pathways centered around a fountain in front of the church, as pictured above. The city sponsors free wifi in the park so you can sit on one of the benches and surf the internet free of charge (ICE wireless network). As mentioned earlier, it`s a pretty safe town and we didn`t get hassled at all. Of course, remember to use common sense and don`t flaunt your money, electronics, etc. But it`s not the fastest wireless ever but the cafe across the square that we`ve been going to has free wifi. Just buy a drink or pastry and you can sit in there for a while as you slowly sip your milkshake or coffee. They have amazing coffee drinks, hot and cold (look out Starbucks!).