"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

Jan. 24 - La Fortuna Waterfall

"You don't climb the mountain so everyone can see you, but to see the world yourself." - Guru Sloth

Day two in Costa Rica started with breakfast at a little bakery down the street, with croissant type pastries and wonderful Costa Rican coffee. It was fuel for our first adventure of the day...hiking to the Fortuna Waterfall.

Blog followers know we love waterfalls…we can never spend too much time exploring them. The Fortuna Waterfall is one of the most popular spots to visit in Costa Rica, so it was a little more crowded than we like. The waterfall is about 230’ tall. Getting to the bottom of the falls is easier today than it was a few years ago…all you had to do is descend 530 steps. Once at the bottom you can swim in the crystal clear waters of the Fortuna River and have a unique view of the falls. It was a relaxing way to spend a few hours…the real workout came on the way up!

Our first look at the falls
The path to the falls
A closer look at the falls
Too much water coming over the falls to swim in the pool today.
Rio Fortuna below the falls
Here's a video of the falls...I could have taken my own, but sharing this one takes a lot less time and is much easier. Enjoy!

After our hike we picked up a few things at the grocery store and came home for lunch. Our second outing for the day was a little less strenuous...we spent the afternoon at the Los Lagos Resort enjoying their beautiful grounds and pools. The resort sits at the base of Arenal Volcano and most of the pools are fed by natural hot springs. We wanted to hike to their observatory, that's supposed to have a great view of the lake, but the volcano was covered in clouds…no view today. We were forced to just relax in the pools, visit with other guests and watch the toucans play.

The view from the top of one of the slides at Los Lagos
Our first toucan sighting...the tree by the pool was full of them 
I couldn't resist going down the slide 
My view coming down the slide