La Fortuna To Lake Arenal

We were both ready to get out of the lovely campground outside the town of La Fortuna and see more of Costa Rica. That we drove barely thirty miles was a result of, well you know, things to do. Van life means there’s always something needs doing! But as you can see above we did finally get to the shore of the lake. 

If you come to Costa Rica on vacation and want to see their only volcano, Arenal you could very well end up here. This is gringo central for outdoor sports and activities and I should point out English is widely spoken even though there are  plenty of Europeans on the sidewalks. 

Layne started out buying fruit at the best fruit stand she says she’s come across. We had bananas and guanabana (soursop) and rambutans for a roadside breakfast as we girded our loins to visit the vet. 

Rusty is full of energy and eats like a horse and generally loves Costa Rica where stray dogs and street dogs don’t exist. But he has a sore bum. The vet diagnosed a fire ant attack and after she shaved his bum to make it look like a baboon’s we could see the nasty pus filled bumps they cause on us too! He took his shots like a dog and now he gets a pill every day and he loves me for that. I also have to spray his fur-free bottom and that he doesn’t seem to mind. My dog has his moments. Oh and that lot cost $73. He needs to get a job or he’ll die in debt to me. 

Another reason to love Costa Rica is laundry. Unlike Nicaragua or El Salvador where they are rare as hens teeth, there is a laundry service on each corner around La Fortuna. We dropped off 4.5 kilos of dreck at noon and picked up ten pounds of clean folded laundry which Layne rated as “perfect” at three in the afternoon. $18 for that maintaining Costa Rica’s claim to being horrendously expensive. 

And wet. It’s almost December and it’s supposed to be dry but this bloody country is drowning us. Sudden downpours of extreme ferocity followed by a pause. Then endless drizzle then a break, then out of nowhere the heavens open again. It just won’t stop. 

On the subject of Costa Rica being expensive we went Indian for lunch choosing one of three such eateries in La Fortuna. We had a fried pakora appetizer, a chicken curry and lamb chops. $82. Oh and we drank tap water. The food was superb but at that rate we’d have to sell  Rusty to travel here. 

We scrapped plans to do a chocolate tour or sit in a hot spring. The rain was just too much. Our weather app showed no rain on the north coast so as always traveling hopefully we loaded our laundry and hit the highway. 

Take a look below. It’s a nicely paved squiggly highway along the lake and Google estimated 29 miles would take a hour. Granted we aren’t formula one drivers but 29 mph seemed a little…unmotivated. I felt we could do better so even though the city park on the lakeshore looked like a good free stop on iOverlander we looked for a back up site an hour further down the road. 

I needn’t have worried as Google Maps had it all figured. I actually enjoy driving the Promaster even though we don’t usually go very fast. I don’t think we’ve been over 50mph very often since we left Mexico so winding along this gorgeous jungle road was no hardship. 

We had a new audiobook to listen to as we rolled down the road. The Exchange by John Grisham is on the Libby app so it’s free which is good as Grisham hasn’t been very listenable to us in his more recent books. We have a few miles to go to give this one a chance before we hand it back.

We have miles to cover and lots of books to choose among. The internet: what an amazing tool. 

So far and based on very little we quite like Costa Rica, a tidy country with no trash and no architecture, no notable history and no conflicts to speak of, what you might call boring but tidy. Switzerland in Spanish maybe, as that’s its reputation sitting amongst volatile armed neighbors. 

I’m okay with that. The country funds itself with customs duties and sales taxes so things are bound to be pricey.

At the same time they value their environment, have regular supplies of electricity that don’t black out all the time and in many places you can drink the tap water. I don’t know if that makes up for the color and vibrancy of Mexico and its Magical Tourist Cities or its delicious foods, but the compromises are obvious and not hidden. Look for trash along the highway or in the park: you won’t see any. 

The lake was increased in size in 1979 with a dam which flooded the town of Arenal so now there is only Nuevo (New) Arenal on the shores of the 20 mile long body of water which is clean enough to swim. 

We had to pick our way carefully in the park whose facilities are largely abandoned. There is a paved road to the boat launch ramp but as you can see there’s lots of mud. 

Rusty and I went for a walk while Layne took a nap and I got a few pre-sunset pictures. The park stretches a way along there with some areas that would make nice campgrounds even for two wheel drive in dry season. 

This time of year the ground is soft and uncertain so I preferred to explore on foot. 

We were alone and Rusty wandered all over. 

By ten o’clock the locals including families watching the sunset, kids on motorcycles, and Americans and their drum circle had all left. Oddly Costa Ricans don’t play loud music in these kinds of places unlike ebullient Mexicans. 

At last a sunset! The rain of course came later.