We are up for a really exciting and thrilling day today! The ziplining place was not far from the hotel. The picture I posted earlier of Arenal was taken when I got up for breakfast. I believe it was around 6 am. By the time we left for breakfast, this was how the volcano looked.
Each of our rooms have a huge sliding door which faces the volcano. It's an awesome view to wake up in the morning. The volcano ceased its pyroclastic flow in 2010.
This is the entrance to the ziplining place.
There are 8 ziplines we go through here and this is the map of the lines.
I asked about the GoPro deal with ziplining and here is the info for those interested in future trips. You may bring your own and attach it to your helmet. Clips are already ready on each helmet to attach a GoPro with a helmet strap, which you need to provide yourself if you were to bring your own GoPro. You may rent a GoPro unit for $45. At the end of the activity, you may view the microSD card (if you rented one) in their computer.
We let the kids go ahead. Here they are all loaded on cable cars to take them up the ziplining platform. It's about a 15 minute ascent to where the ziplining starts.
Off they go!....
The rest of the group chatted while waiting and a few tried to settle their nerves.
Here's a view from the cable cars.
We had a wonderful day ziplining! I believe we would have gone even if it rained though. Again, you can see how thick the forest is and it's an area where most of us got more bug bites. DD and I wore long pants to avoid getting more but they still went between my sandal straps and arms.
They itch like crazy! We did frequent application of hydrocortisone cream and it really helped.
This is one of two trial ziplining lines. It is nowhere near the magnitude of the real lines ahead!
Gonecruisin' has a similar photo as the one below. I couldn't orient myself until I got there though, of course. Anyway, this was taken from the platform above where we got off our cable cars. Two trial lines get you to the platform in the photo. If you look closely, you can see a line which the guide is holding at the bottom of the photo all the way through the thickness of the forest. This is the point of no return so people decide if they wish to continue or descend the platform. Once you go through the lines, that is the only wait to exit the area. This particular line is the highest, 700+ feet above sea level! You cannot appreciate it in the beginning but once you're in the middle of the line, you will see how high up you are. It's quite fast too and it's great to feel the wind on your face.
Only one child backed out on ziplining. A couple of adults went with a guide to go through the first one but did it on their own afterwards. The smaller kids had to go with a guide each time since they don't make it all the way to the other platform.
More ziplining photos... This is my DD ziplining, as I held my breath!....
And DH coming in.
The 7th line is the longest at 2060 feet. You zipline for 45 seconds! I forgot which one is the fastest but you zipline at 40 mph!!
I don't think anyone else took photos during the ziplining. Fico and one of the ziplining guides will take your photo on the last short zipline and you have the option to purchase it later (the ones the guide took, not the ones Fico took).
We headed to La Fortuna for lunch. It's a small town not far from where we were. Fico gave suggestions for lunch and we opted for faster service since we wanted to check out the stores for souvenirs.
Fico referred to this park as Central Park. There are stores and restaurants on the left and right side of the photo. The Arenal volcano is behind the church and you can see a glimpse of our bus at the bottom of the church.
We had lunch at that restaurant, which I guess is considered fast food. The dish I ordered though was so yummy! I believe they call it carne salsa. Yum!!
This would be the best place to buy local products and souvenirs. Most of us like the wooden folding table mats they used at the Hotel Manoa and saw many of us buy it. Gonecruisin has a photo of it in his post. It is simply heavy since it's made of wood. Costa Rica is known for its coffee as well. It's not the top industry though this time but it used to be the main economic resource for the country. This is also the best place to buy coffee bags for souvenirs or for your own use.
When we arrived back to the hotel, we had the option to attend the Maleku art presentation. The Maleku is an ancient Costa Rican tribe and only 600 of them remain. They try to continue living their traditions and they have particular type of art made from gourds and wood. I forgot to take a photo of their work which you could see at the table behind. I did purchase a few products which I will photograph later and post. Here is Fico with three Malekus explaining some of their language and art. The woman is wearing their traditional costume.
This was just a busy day and I guess I had the hot springs in mind and how to do my art work and forgot to take photos of the Maleku art. Anyway, right after the are presentation, we got ready for the hot springs. We met at 5 pm and headed to the Hidalgo Hot Springs. It was about a 20 minute drive from the hotel. Our hotel as well had hot springs, mostly fed from the nearby volcanoes.
Once you reach the reception area of the hot springs, it is about a hundred feet from the reception to get to the pools. Here is my first glimpse of the hot springs. Since this pool is closest to the source, it is the hottest among all the three pools.
As you go from left to right, the water gets cooler - but still warm. It also started to rain by the time we got in the water.
Our other guide, Lucy advised us not to stay in the hot springs too long and to dip in the small cold pool once in a while. Some got carried away in conversation and actually felt a little woozy after staying too long in the hottest pool.
This is the waterfall which feeds the pools.
We spent about an hour in the hot springs and we had dinner at the Hidalgo Hot Springs afterwards. This was a really great day!