Costa Rica Coast to Coast– Day 4

Today was the day that we had been looking forward to the most….ZIP LINING!! After breakfast in the hotel,we loaded the bus and road to Sky Trek for our zip lining adventure. 

 We got all our safety gear on and then rode the tram up to the top.  Once at the top, we had a beautiful view of Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal.  We took a group photo and then the guides started our training instructions.  Sky Trek has 5 main lines, 2 “bunny” lines and a finishing line.  The bunny lines give you a feel for the procedure before the turn you loose on the real lines.  Each line was a little different and offered a different view and experience.  I had never zip lined before.  However, I have a feeling that experiencing it back in the USA, might be a little different than in Costa Rica over the canopy of the rainforest, with a view of Arenal Volcano.

After finishing the first three lines they had a refreshment stand on the platform where you could get a coffee or juice and view photos that they took of you on line 3….aka “Big Daddy”. It was a nice break from the adrenaline rush!  Then we finished down the last two lines followed by the last exit line that got us back to the main check in point.

A couple if important notes about this adventure…

1) We wanted to videotape our ride and so we rented a GoPro camera.  The neat thing about the rentals, is that we could use the GoPro and then watch the video before agreeing to purchase.  They also let my husband and I trade helmets so that we could both videotape our rides and get the other one coming in. In the end we purchased the video for $45.

2) Kids had to be 8 to zip line…if there were any younger kids or adults who didn’t want to zip, they could do a nature walk back down from the top. 

After we loaded back into the bus and headed into La Fortuna.  La Fortuna changed its name after the last eruption of Arenal.  When it erupted in 1968 the lava rocks only went down one side of the volcano and La Fortuna was spared from any damage. So they changed the name to La Fortuna which means good fortune!  We were given a couple of hours to eat lunch on our own, explore the town and to shop.

Our next stop was back to the resort for a craft with the Maleku tribe.  They brought gourds that we could paint and shared their culture with us.  The gourd painting allowed us to create a keepsake from our trip. 

Our day wasn’t over yet….tonight we were taken to Hidalgo Hot Springs.  These natural hot springs are heated by Arena volcano itself.  They had five different pools.  Ranging from cool to hot.  They suggest that you gradually work your way up. Most everyone hung around the second pool because the hotter ones were too hot to stand for very long, but felt great for shorter periods of time. We were allowed to relax for about an hour and a half.  They prepared us a nice traditional Costa Rican dinner in their kitchen.   After an action-packed day, we were driven back to Arenal Manoa to get rested up for the next adventure.