Volcanoes and Rainforests of Costa Rica: Our 3 Days in La Fortuna

During the 2019 rainy season, we headed to Costa Rica (naturally!) We planned our trip independently, with three bases over 11 days. The rainforest areas could be tricky to drive through, we were warned. But we threw caution to the wind and in our trusty hired Nissan X-Trail, we drove from Liberia to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is considered the gateway to the Arenal Volcano National Park, and it’s an area rich in hot springs, rainforests, and wildlife. Expecting pot-holed, muddy roads … it turned out the tarmac was better than most roads here in Hertfordshire! It took around 3 hours from Liberia to La Fortuna, and Google Maps worked perfectly door to door.

Volcano Lodge and Springs

We booked Volcano Lodge and Springs, via booking.com, mainly because of its good price – we booked a Thermal Superior Room, as it had its own geothermally-heated hot tub!

The resort has good security; to drive in you needed to display a security badge. Parking was good, and we could park close to our room. The room itself had two double beds (good for the four of us), along with a large bathroom with walk-in shower, and a utility area with fridge and a safe.

To the rear, accessed from our room, was an outdoor private seating area leading up to our own private hot tub. Rather than fencing, tropical plants sheltered you from the view of others. It was rather lovely! Relaxing in the hot tub while watching hummingbirds visiting flowers is a memory I’ll cherish forever.

Every day the room attendant left a towel creature on the beds!

Our first day in La Fortuna was a bit of a wash out … well, we were in a rainforest area during the rainy season! Breakfast was served in the restaurant near the pool area. It had everything you’d want, from fresh fruit and juices, to pastries and bread, meats and cheese, hot food – including Costa Rican dishes. There was also a fresh egg and waffle station, where you could order chocolate or sugar-coated waffles, and various omelettes and fried eggs. We were served tea and coffee at the table.

Birds of Volcano Lodge and Springs

My favourite part of breakfast wasn’t the food, but the bird life. Fruit skins were left out on bird tables and, wow, the pretty birds that visited was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I ate my toast with one hand while snapping photos on my phone with the other!

That first day we were booked on a sloth-spotting tour, but we managed to swap it for the following day (in the hope the rain would stop). Instead, after breakfast, we drove to The Rainforest Chocolate Tour, followed by a Down to Earth Coffee Farm Tour (literally next door); the rain didn’t bother us at all.

The Rainforest Chocolate Tour

I mentioned The Rainforest Chocolate Tour out loud when researching for things to do in La Fortuna, and the entire family demanded it made the list – well, chocolate IS life really. Never in my wildest dreams did I realise the visit would be so much fun. Fantastically educational and hands-on, with our guide Keilor, we didn’t stop laughing from start to finish.

Upon arrival we congregated in an undercover area, with info boards to learn some basics before the tour starts. Oh, and some fun selfie frames for the Instagram-obsessed among us (cough!)

We were also advised to spray ourselves with insect repellent at this point. Our group was then introduced to Keilor, an incredibly funny engaging man. Toby (especially) and Millie-Mae found him hilarious. He made learning Fun, for all of us. There were about 10-12 people in our group, from all over the world … if you answered a question right, you got given chocolate!

Over the following hour or so we learned everything about growing, processing and manufacturing chocolate. From the pods on the tree …

… to sucking the sweet fruit surrounding the seeds …

… to biting into the bitter seed centre …

… drying the beans …

… and then making – and eating – chocolate!

I really recommend this tour to everyone. I want to go back to do it again!

Down to Earth Coffee Farm Tour

Having pulled out of the carpark at The Rainforest Chocolate Tour, we immediately turned into the Down to Earth Coffee Farm Tour, where we were met by Matias, the owner. After a short rest and an amazing flat white coffee, our private tour began. I wasn’t sure how much interest the children would have learning about coffee – they are too young to drink it – but I was really pleased by their enthusiasm (Since the trip Toby has mastered making the perfect flat white on our home bean-to-cup machine!)

Our tour began by learning about the coffee plant. Matias grows seedlings the traditional way, under a cloche of leaves to encourage growth upwards. We were allowed to prick out some seedlings and we had to find two straight roots of similar length to then pot together.

Once mature, these plants will make their way to his 7-acres coffee plantation, 40 miles south-west of San Jose, in the Dota Tarrazu Valley (Costa Rica’s premiere coffee producing region).

We then learned about picking coffee cherries …

… drying them (naturally) …

… roasting them, and then finally grinding, brewing and tasting the coffee.

It was a fascinating couple of hours that certainly makes you appreciate your cup of Joe a lot more. If you like coffee, honestly, don’t miss this tour!

Second Day

After a night of torrential downpours and storms (the thunder and lightning were ‘epic’!) we woke to a calm, pleasant day. The birds were busy eating their fruit breakfast when we arrived at the pool restaurant for our waffles breakfast – some different birds to the previous day, so the camera was busy again!

On our second day we had two tours booked:

1. Hanging Bridges Tour, with Jacamar Naturalist Tours
2. Sloth Tour, with Callidryas Tours

Hanging Bridges Tour

After a quick breakfast we were collected by a Jacamar Naturalist Tours’ mini-coach at the hotel reception to head to the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park, a 30-minute drive away. This area is a 600-acre lush jungle reserve, which is home to a huge range of wildlife. With our guide we walked the 3.1 km trail. The trail has a maximum grade of 7 degrees – it’s an easy walk (but do wear sturdy footwear).

Our guide helped us spot some of the varied local wildlife, including the motmot birds …

… eyelash pit viper …

… poison dart frogs …

… a beautiful, very hairy, caterpillar …

… and a very bright snail …

We also saw bats and owls, and heard monkeys.

The trail also traverses 9 fixed bridges and 6 suspension bridges. The bridges were rather exhilarating, especially the hanging bridges that swing a little more than you anticipate!

The bridges, over the canopy, offered great views; however looking up at the canopy was beautiful too…

This was a thoroughly enjoyable tour, led by a guide who really knew his stuff. As we boarded the air-conditioned mini-coach for the journey back to the hotel we were offered complimentary cold water. The weather stayed dry for us, and even though the trail wasn’t exhausting, we were grateful to return to our room, and to our hot tub for a soak before the next tour started.

Sloth Tour

After lunch we walked to the hotel reception to be met by our guide, Jaime. He had already got his spotter scope set up on a tripod … as there was a sloth in the tree ahead of us! I came to Costa Rica to see a sloth in the wild, so I was really happy (and the tour hadn’t even started!)

Our tour was a private one; Jaime had a driver upfront with him in the minibus, and we were regularly offered ice-cold complimentary water. As we drove around looking for sloths, we were told about the types we could see, their favourite food, their habits etc. Jaime was really good – unbelievably enthusiastic. You felt that, even if he had no customers, he’d still drive around to spot the wildlife – he simply loved his job (and that’s a good thing, isn’t it).

Not just sloths …

He also knew a lot of other Costa Rican wildlife, and even though his remit was to show us sloths – and he did (lots of them) – he was also determined for us to see other species too. This included this very noisy rainbow-billed toucan:

The weather was really good to us, and the air-conditioned minibus was needed at regular intervals to cool down between stops. We spent a lot of time looking through a spotter lens. But we saw so many sloths – it was heaven! I didn’t expect to learn so much about them too … for instance, they only climb down to the ground once a week for a poo!

Before the tour end we stopped at an eco-resort for a drink and some snacks of fruit, meats, cheese and nacho chips. Again, they put fruit skins out on feeders and we saw yet more amazing birds! Costa Rica really is the best place to visit if you want to see wildlife. What an amazing day. Once we returned to the hotel we decided to chill out for the rest of the day, with a short walk around the resort grounds.

Third Day

Our last breakfast at the hotel was a leisurely one as we had no plans, other than to pack and drive all the way to Tamarindo on the north-east coast (approx 3.5 hrs drive). But first we wanted time to explore and sample the Volcano Lodge and Springs, with its thermal pools and swim-up bar. The following photographs will give you an idea of how lovely this resort really is!

What else is there to do?

We only really had two full days in La Fortuna to cram as much in as we could. In hindsight, we should have stayed longer because this really was a highlight of our trip. Of course there are lots of things to do in the Arenal area that we simply didn’t have time to do. We could have:

• Visited one of the many mineral hot spring resorts
• Tour a pineapple plantation
• Hike the volcanoes
• Go white water rafting
• Take the Sky Tram
• Go ziplining
• Horseback riding
• Take a ATV tour
• Visit La Fortuna Waterfall

There’s lots more too … If you’ve visited La Fortuna, what were your highlights. I’d love to know!