Friday, June 1, 2012

Arenal/La Fortuna, Costa Rica, May 12

My journey to Arenal was exciting for me, not only because I was comfortable in a small shuttle bus travelling through more beautiful rainforest and farmland, but also because at the rest stop, one of the local restaurant owners asked me if I'm Tica (the local term for people from Costa Rica).  I love being mistaken for a local because it means that my accent is neutral enough and that my complexion is close enough to the locals that they can't tell me apart.  It was so awesome and totally made my day.  Due to a communication error, I ended up leaving a lot earlier than I expected, so I didn't get time for breakfast.  That restaurant didn't have many good options for to-go food, but I did find coconut cajeta.  I didn't know they have cajeta in any country outside of Mexico.  For those of you that are unfamiliar, cajeta is a caramel substance made with goat's milk.  It's super yummy, and you can make all sorts of candies out of it.  I justified the purchase because at least there was coconut it in, and sadly it was actually the best option as we only had 15 minutes to stop, so I wasn't able to really get much else.  I also had a granola bar in my bag, so I did eat that, but I was still hungry by the time we reached the stop.

Anyway, the trip took about 5.5 hours.  Many of the roads were narrow, windy, and bumpy, however.  It's not for the faint of stomach, in my opinion.  Lots of pastureland along the way, as I mentioned.  Many of the farmhouses were large, beautiful, modern-looking structures; some were even for sale.  How tempting, in a way.

La Fortuna is the town near the Arenal volcano.  It appears to be a nice little town, not appearing nearly as sketchy as Quepos.  The guy at the hostel here says it's really safe to walk around.  I'm happy about that.  I feel a little freer here already for that reason.  I'm planning to rest and then figure out what my best options are for tomorrow.

I checked out a bakery and a grocery store in the afternoon and then came back to rest.  It's really humid here, and even as slowly as I'm moving, the effort is too much!  I just get so sweaty, I want to shower every couple of hours.

I went to a place called Nene's Restaurant for supper because it looked like only locals were there.  The meal was ok, and only the grilled chicken was outstanding--savoury and juicy.

No comments:

Post a Comment