Have you ever gotten such a perfect present from someone that you knew nothing else they could get you in the foreseeable future would even come close to topping it?
That is me, right now, about this year’s Christmas present from Landyn to myself. He took me on a weekend getaway to a volcano.
I don’t feel blissful a lot– I’m too in my head for that. But this weekend was truly euphoric.
Our 48-hour home was the city of La Fortuna, directly next to the Arenal Volcano. Scientists thought the volcano was dormant until, in Mount St. Helens fashion, it randomly erupted in 1968, wiping out a nearby small town. It remained active until 2010, and has not had significant seismic activity since then. The volcano’s beauty combined with its interesting (and slightly depressing) backstory have transformed La Fortuna into quite the tourist hub.
Landyn booked us at the Arenal Green Hotel– a charming, eco-friendly resort comprised of individual bungalows scattered throughout the property.
Friday night was spent wandering around La Fortuna, getting into vacation mode, and preparing for our next action-packed day.
We woke up early Saturday morning and set out on a lengthy hike. Landyn had done copious amounts of preliminary research before our trip and thus determined the coolest trails. The one he picked was supposed to be the best in the area, however it was long and rated as a high difficulty trail.
Nevertheless, we wanted to see creatures, get a solid workout, and have amazing views, so we began our 3 hour trek.
Our expedition took us through multiple terrains from grass to lava rocks to dirt. We circled a lake, carved out as a result of the 1968 eruption, and we were surrounded by plenty of creatures: birds, reptiles, hordes of ants marching leaves to their underground lair.
As we entered an area with particularly lofty trees, I looked up to find an entire family of monkeys swinging around the canopy, living their best lives.
There were at least 12. It was incredible.
We pushed onward through lava fields and arrived at the view the online blogs had raved about:
Completely worth the 3 hour sweat session.
After said workout, we were on our way to our next destination when we hit a traffic jam. Odd for the middle of the day, our taxi driver told us it was probably an animal crossing the road that was holding up traffic. Then he pointed and said the three words I have been waiting, dying, needing to hear since I came to Costa Rica: it’s a sloth.
I could have set a world record for fastest exit from a vehicle.
They are exactly how they have been depicted in every animated movie and show that I have ever seen, they really do move extremely slowly, and they are SO CUTE.
After he arrived safely to his destination, we came upon ours–Baldi Springs.
The genius behind Baldi Springs built 25 beautiful outdoor pools and filled them with natural hot spring water that flows underneath the facility. So it kind of feels like you’re at the Wisconsin Dells but there’s no harsh chemicals in the pristine water, and all of the pools naturally vary in temperatures from only 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 116.
It was extravagant and the most relaxed I’ve been since I came out of the womb.
When I leave a normal waterpark, I feel exhausted, my eyes are dry and heavy, and my skin is cracked and parched. But this spring water made me feel completely different. It was refreshing, relaxing, and my skin was velvet soft.
I think for some people, like myself, relaxation is significantly harder to achieve than it is for others. I’ve always known that I need to learn how to relax because stress is so bad for the body and mind and all that. But how do you? How do you explain to someone how to quiet their mind when it prefers to run at a hundred miles per hour all the time?
Gradually, in small doses, I feel like I’m finally learning how to mellow out. Baldi Springs was a perfect place to work on it and it really encompasses everything that I feel “Pura Vida” is all about: slowing it down and truly enjoying the little joys that life has to offer.
We kept this water-relaxation theme going on Sunday when we went to a natural waterfall nearby. (Note: before the relaxing water portion could begin, we had to hike two miles ENTIRELY UPHILL and THEN descend 500 stairs to reach the waterfall. Up, down, up, down…)
This was our Sunday morning pre-waterfall:
This is where we ended up:
I keep feeling like these places I go to aren’t real, this can’t be real life. My typical January is the coldest, snowiest, grayest month of the year. But here I am jumping in watering holes and hiking around a volcano, red-faced and sweaty.
Landyn got me an amazing Christmas gift. But even the less exciting days, the ones spent at home just living in this beautiful place, feel like a gift. Relaxation is a key component to the culture here, and after this weekend I’m finally starting to feel like I fit in.
Pura Vida, friends.
Cari Anna Camera 