Day 2 in La Fortuna began with a 7am alarm clock so that we'd be on time for the 8am pickup for our full-day hike. After quickly showering (once I'd figured out the 3-knob system of the shower), I went down to the desk to inquire into the status of my camera recovery mission. Alonso was not working, but Yselia was there and we talked for a few minutes. She called the Gray Line office and it was closed. I impressed upon her how important this was to me and asked if she would be able to keep calling while I was on my hike. She confirmed that she would definitely do this and reaffirmed that there was no problem, this happens all of the time, the company is soooo reliable and the drivers are so honest. I thought about skipping the hike, but we had already forked over $85 apiece when we had pre-booked (nonrefundable) and I really wanted to go. Unfortunately, this was a full day hike and so we would not be back until after the office had closed again.
After a quick breakfast, we set off with Alf (our driver) and Carlos (our guide) along with Pietr, our dormmate; a Japanese-Brazilian couple on their honeymoon; Rita (US); and a couple more people who apparently did not leave a strong impression on me. The drive out took about two hours, though we did stop along the way when Alf, our sharp-eyed driver, spotted wildlife along the road. It was amazing, we saw a 2-toed sloth, which is called Hoffmann's sloth (so cool), actually cross from branch to branch of his tree when Carlos imitated a hawk's cry. Next, we saw a 3-toed sloth which has grey, plush fur (Hoffmann's sloth has long blondish fur), and decided not to move while we were there - maybe he wasn't fooled by Carlos' hawk imitation. The third stop was to see a huge ceiba tree (the national tree of Guatemala) where we were lucky enough to also see a green and black dart frog. It was just gorgeous.
The hike was up to a waterfall and to some fumeroles and then to a natural volcanic hot spring. It was an out and back trail and was challenging enough to be interesting without being really tough at all. The Celeste river is amazing. The volcanic minerals in the water give it a milky turquoise appearance that I have never seen before. The falls were beautiful and we also were lucky enough to see a couple of white face monkeys (capuchins) along the trail. Nicole and I could have driven out by ourselves, but we definitely saw more wildlife with Alf and Carlos, so that made it worth doing the hike as part of a tour.
We went to the waterfall first, on Carlos' prescient recommendation, 'cause it did start to rain later in the day and the water doesn't have that fab color when it's muddy. Next, we climbed up to a fumerole to feel the hot gases venting out of the mountain and then hiked back to the fork where we picked up the trail out to the hot spring. By this point, we were passing many other hikers on the trail and when we got to the spring, it was pretty full. Nicole and I had both brought bathing suits, but decided that we didn't really want to be chafing for the rest of the day and we just put our legs in. The water was interesting, with cold and very hot currents drifting in different places. At the recommendation of a Columbian American man from Utah, we sat in the spot where the water was juuuuust right. While the rest of the group waited fairly patiently, we enjoyed the water and a conversation with a couple of Americans who just happen to be good friends with a few of the people that Nicole went to law school with. It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all...
After that, we hiked out, seeing various birds and butterflies and then stopped for lunch at the trailhead. The lunch was actually very good, which was shocking. Usually, the vegetarian lunch on a tour is chicken broth soup, yes they think that chicken broth is vegetarian, salad that I am afraid to eat, and rice. Yum. This was rice and beans and a jicama salad and pineapple and a lovely side of macaroni with tuna. Yes, with tuna...on the vegetarian plate. Oh well, they almost hit the nail on the head and I didn't actually swallow it, just chewed it for a bit and then compulsively rinsed my mouth out with water.
Back at the hostel, Alonso was working. I asked about my camera. He looked panicky and then said, "I'll call right now....brrrring, brrrring...oh, sorry, they must be closed." At that point, it became clear that I needed to impress upon him the gravity of the situation. I explained that I had taken video of my 87 year old grandfather at Christmas and that the information on that memory card was irreplaceable. I asked if he understood this. I reinforced the message, making absolutely sure that we were clear on how important this was to me and that he would definitely be calling first thing in the morning.
With even less hope of recovering my camera, we set off for dinner. Pietr, DeLisa, Nicole and I went to the ATM and luckily, Nicole was able to pull out 100 dollars, so her ATM situation was resolved after a mere 48 hours of frustration, emails, live chats, and hair pulling. In the meantime, my credit card stopped functioning. Nice. There was a short period of time in which I supplied cash and Nicole supplied credit and we limped along in a three-legged financial situation, with neither of us being able to do without the other.
After grabbing some cash, we started checking out the local dining options. Finally, we decided to splash out a a nice little Italian place with photos on the wall of the Lippizaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Considering how much I loved it, this seemed like an auspicious sign. The food was great, though Nicole ended up with spaghetti marinara rather than the penne bolognese that she ordered - the tip was adjusted accordingly. Nicole and DeLisa were enjoying a nice glass of wine with dinner and decided to have a second. Pietr and I lingered for a bit and then left the ladies to their wine and headed home. I think that Pietr was eager to escape the grilling he'd been getting about his love life and the three-woman consultation that we gave him regarding life and love. I say this with some certainty due to the fact that once back at the hostel, he immediately jumped into a conversation about cars with Fredrik from Sweden. Manly.
Fredrick and his girlfriend Maulin were from Gottland, an island in Sweden. Maulin and I were chatting for awhile about her home and traveling, etc. when Nicole and DeLisa returned with styrofoam cups filled with wine. Apparently, after finishing their 2nd snifter glass of wine, the waiter brought over 2 complimentary glasses of wine, each being about half a bottle's worth of wine. What is anyone supposed to do with free wine? Well, DeLisa started pouring hers out on the street, and so Nicole was really morally obliged to drink it. Remember, there are children all over the world going to bed without wine...it'd be a sin to waste it.
After a bit, DeLisa went off to bed and Pietr, Nicole, Maulin, Fredrik and I stood around in the lounge talking and laughing and having a language exchange. It started with Maulin explaining to me that her dialect in Gottland is a little different from that spoken in the rest of Sweden. For example, they say jo rather than ja, or as it's pronounced, yo! Then, Maulin started telling us that puss in Swedish means kiss. It was all downhill from there. I´m sorry to say that the dirty words really are the most fun to learn and the most likely to stick in one's mind. Ashlet. ;)
Then to bed; perchance to dream...
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