La Fortuna/Volcan Arenal

I absolutely love this pic, although I can't take the credit for capturing it. This was where we stayed this past weekend...with Volcan Arenal in the back!

For our first ISA-organized excursion to the region of La Fortuna, we left at 6 in the morn Saturday, and I have no idea why, because where we stayed was absolutely incredible and all of us would've loved to stay an extra night. So that day was super jam-packed with various activities. First of all, we visited a park which consisted of various abstract creatures and things made from large bushes and shrubs, and all constructed solely by one old man. It was pretty amazing; and the place reminded me of a Dr. Seuss maze.
These look like they could be cute monster creatures playing around with each other.
Next we had breakfast at a cute little restaurant, then traveled through a windy road amongst gorgeous valleys and hills, and finally arrived at La Catarata la Fortuna. Wow, I don't think I've seen such a waterfall so BEAUTIFUL.
We had to hike down over 200 steep steps (and of course back up, which was quite a workout I must say!) in order to reach the bottom of the waterfall, where we were able to jump in and cool ourselves off in the refreshingly cold water.
Then we had lunch in a cute little town right by where we were staying the night, where you could see Volcan Arenal in the background!
We finally arrived at our hotel, and it was absolutely amazing. It was like a resort, with tons of pools and slides, and with huge rooms that were pretty much like our own villas.
What an amazing view of Volcan Arenal we had! Luckily, although it would've been cool to witness and see, the volcano is inactive right now, and it wasn't dangerous at all.
After we unpacked, we went to Baldi Hot Springs, the most relaxing, romantic and sensational place I've ever been to. There were over 20 pools, all varying in temperatures, saunas, water slides, and poolside bars!

It was amazing. Some even said they'd return there for their honeymoon!
After dinner at Baldi, we finally returned to our hotel, where we just hung out and got to know each other better. We even played "never have I ever," which to those of you who have never played, is a game in which everyone finds out some of your deepest darkest secrets, with the help of some drinks of course. It made me miss my TL babies!

Because that day was non-stop, I passed out pretty early, which was good though, because I needed to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn again the next day...to go canyoning down the waterfalls! It was the first time I had done it so it was quite nerve-wrecking, especially because the first one was a 165 foot jump!

After the initial jump though, it was soooo much fun! And at least we looked super cool in all our protective gear!
AND we had some really friendly (and some cute!) tour guides to help us through it all ;) The whole tour was definitely worth the money and getting up early for.
They even invited us to come party with them that night! Unfortunately, we had to leave with the rest of the group, although once again, of course, we didn't want to leave to return back to boring and gloomy ol San Jose!