3rd Day in La Fortuna

After it gets dark in Costa Rica within half an hour and the night starts around 5:15 PM, we went to bed relatively early after a long drive. Early means - dinner at half past six, in bed at eight.

That's why I woke up again at half past four. The sun rises around quarter past five.

I grabbed my camera and tried to get a nice sunrise volcano photo.

Very difficult in the rainforest with tall trees🧐. We only found one place that allowed us to see the volcanoes.

The sunrise 🌅 was not particularly colorful, but at least it was a sunrise.

At 8 o'clock we went to the entrance of the national park - to be more precise, to the Santa Pailas Ranger Station. There is a 3 km circular trail with mud and steam holes. There is also a very beautiful waterfall to see. The entrance fee is 15§ per person and you have to sign in and out.

Shortly before the end of the trail, there is a turnoff to the Santa Maria Ranger Station. We were not quite sure where this station is located, but since it was 6 km from here, the way back couldn't take longer. Past a few waterfalls, monkeys, spiders, and streams (we had to cross twice with the help of a rope and got our feet wet) through rainforest area without meeting a soul. 2 km before the end, we turned towards the Hot Springs. You can smell these hot springs from a distance and they are not inviting for swimming, although the water was clear and blue.

Since we couldn't go any further from here, we walked the 3 km back to the ranger station. So far, we were on the road for nearly 6 hours and 11 km.

Arriving in Santa Maria, we had to realize that there is nothing here.

Except for a Jeep that asked us about the way to the hot springs. The man from Germany wanted to go there with his son, but the way was too long for them. We were very lucky that he offered to give us a ride.

The way back seemed endless to us until he let us out 1 km before the parking lot where our car was. As soon as we got out, a couple from Spain picked us up.... what luck. It would have been over 10 km on the road to get home.

Very stupid of us to just go there without any plan. If it wasn't for these two nice people, oh my poor feet.

When we arrived at the car, we drove to the hot springs of our hotel and enjoyed the 39 degrees warm pools after our long trip.

We were back at the hotel around 5 PM... shower, eat, sleep...