A Boat Cruise on the Rio Frio to Spot Wild Life and a Soak in the Thermal Hot Springs of the Arenal Volcano

Sunday, March 15, 2020

A Boat Cruise on the Rio Frio to Spot Wild Life and a Soak in the Thermal Hot Springs of the Arenal Volcano

Ola from Costa Rica!

Awaking in our hotel room at the Magic Mountain Hotel, we found that the Arenal Volcano, that was right in front of our balcony, had disappeared completely behind clouds. We showered and went off for breakfast in the dining room (omelettes with plantains sautéed and eaten with sour cream, chicken sausages and orange juice (no decaf coffee available). 

The Biggest Thrill of All—Sighting A Sloth:

Our trip was made today when we spied a sloth en route to the River Frio for our cruise. It was our guide Bernal who spotted it and he actually backed up our bus so that we could get closer to see it. Such sightings are extremely rare and what was more, this sloth was being far from slothful. In fact, it was over-active and was probably leaving the tree to either urinate or defecate which our guide told us ‘wakes’ it up and makes it come down to the ground. It was in the process of climbing up the tree when we spotted it.  We managed to stop our bus for more than ten minutes so that we could take all the pictures we wanted and I even managed to get some fantastic video of it. As I had come to Costa Rica specifically to see sloths in the wild, I can say that my trip was made. I was truly delighted as I had not seen the sloth at the wild life refuge yesterday and I was sure that I had missed the opportunity to see one. Bernal keep telling us that we were really lucky to have had this sighting as it is not often he is able to spot something like this. 

Off on the Cruise of the River Frio:

Next, we piled into the bus for a ride that took over an hour to get us to the very border of  Nicaragua to a small town called Los Chiles. This is a base for cruising on the Rio Frio at the Cano Negro Reservation. Throughout the way, we passed by miles and miles of plantations: banana or plantain, cassava (which is a very large, brown tuber and a very cheap source of starch), sugarcane. There were also mango trees everywhere. Bernal kept telling us a lot about the flora and fauna of the region as we ate up the miles. I was also delighted to spot a number of birds en route—tanagers and quetzals. 

After about an hour’s driving, we found a little restaurant where we could use restrooms before we walked about five minutes to the banks of the river. There we were met by Luis, our guide, who supervised us as we boarded the vessel that would take us for a two hour cruise on the river. 

Within moments, we began to see birds and they were stunning. We saw black cormorants as the neo-tropic black cormorants use this area as a breeding ground. We also saw a bird called a ahinga, a huge stork, many kingfishers of various sizes, many grey and white storks, loads of egrets and white herons. In addition to this, we saw lots of caimans—this is the first time I was hearing of such an animal.  It is vey similar to a crocodile or an alligator but is much smaller, is brown in color, has a striped tail and tends to eat other animals—it does not attack human beings.  There were several of them floating in the water and lounging on the muddy banks.

Meanwhile, up in the trees, we came upon colonies of howler monkeys and the real joy was hearing them howl—howls that actually sounded more like barks. I think they should be called Barkers, not howlers. Anyway, we saw ever so many of them—males, females and even the tiniest little baby that was independently swinging through the branches—much to my delight. A little further up, we saw a few capuchin monkeys and they were a glorious sight too. They are smaller and have white faces and black tonsures or monk caps which is why they are called capuchins. 

So indeed, we saw much more wild life than we had thought we would see. And since this was the reason we came to Costa Rica, we could not have been happier. The weather too was perfect—neither too hot nor too cold. It did start drizzling at one point but it was a quick shower that seems to end before it had quite begun.        

On the Border of Nicaragua:

One of the unexpected highlights of our day was that we entered Nicaragua—this was not something we had imagined when we started the cruise, but we soon discovered that we were only seven miles away from the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border (if we used the road and drove) and just ten minutes upstream if we continued to stay in the boat. 

As it turned out, our guide Luis instructed our driver to take us to the border where, on the river bank, was a huge sign saying “Welcome to Nicaragua’. There was also a milestone there with two flags of the two countries painted on it. Needless to say, we all posed on the boat with the sign in the background and when we were all done taking turns, our cruise boat driver made a further move into the actual country of Nicaragua so that we could all say that we have actually been to Nicaragua too! It reminded us of being on the river Jordan on the Jordan side and being told that the opposite bank was Israel.  

So with that little excursion, I can say that I really got my money’s worth.

Lunch and Off Again:

By the time we returned to the restaurant, we were ready for lunch and it was another pretty modest buffet affair. Bernal told us that we would be eating typical Nicaraguan food. It turned out to be Arroz Con Pollo which is Rice with Chicken (shredded chicken is cooked with the rice to make a kind of pilaf), mashed black beans, squash and carrots and finally fried cassava. This was very bland even though it was fried but the accompanying Lizano sauce made it palatable. We sipped a drink called Tamarinho which is made with tamarind fruit which is also native to the area. It was very refreshing.

Off to the Hot Springs of Mount Arenal (Volcano):

The next item on our agenda was a visit to the thermal hot springs that are fed by the Arenal Volcano. It involved a return drive of another hour before we reached the town of La Fortuna. A short detour took us to the very base of the mountain where a number of resorts, spas and hotels have sprung up for precisely the idea of offering people the opportunity to relax completely in the warm waters. As it is a Sunday, many local Costa Rican families (known as Ticos) were around with their children. 

Our bus stopped at the Los Lagos Spa and Resort where everything was super-spiffy. There were beautiful gender-segregated toilets, bathrooms and showers as well as changing rooms. Each of us was given a towel and a locker in which we could stash our stuff with our own coded number. From time to time, there is a gentle drizzle but it only lasts five minutes and passes away.

As we made our way to the hot springs, there was a light drizzle in the air but we did not notice it at all as we were soon stepping into one of the many hot pools that dot the beautifully landscaped area. Since these spas are built on the slopes of the volcano, the pools are in tiers and are surrounded by the most beautiful colored vegetation and flowers. Each pool has a different temperature with the hottest pools being right at the top. As you come lower down, the water gets cooler. 

Soaking in the springs was an absolute delightful experience and we made the most of it as we found ourselves chaise-longes that came with their own jets. We tried three of the pools and found the one that most appealed to us. We had many friends around in the various pools and everyone was doing their own thing in the water. There were falling sheets of hot water, faucets or jets of water, etc. so that each place offered a different experience.  The younger one were enjoying the water slide.

After being in the water for more than an hour, it was time to return our towels and get back to the bus—which we did. We showered and got dressed again and just a little later, we were in the bus and headed back to our hotel which was just five minutes away.

Back at the Magic Mountain Hotel for Dinner:

There was time to check email, catch up on world news through CNN on our TV sets (more dire news about the coronavirus that has hit the entire world and shut it down completely) and have a drink and a snack before we got ourselves organized for dinner. We also packed as we have a very early start tomorrow— we need to get our bags outside by 6.00 am. We watched some bits of the Bernie Sanders-Joe Biden Debate that was moderated by Jake Tapper and had no audience.  All gatherings everywhere in the world have been curtailed. 

Dinner was a Mixed Grill—I tried the Beef (too rare for me), the chicken and the chorizo sausage. This was eaten with a big salad which was basically all I had. For dessert, I had a small piece of cake. At dinner, we sat with Ritch and Kathy who graduated from UCONN, is originally from Old Saybrook in Connecticut, and now lives on Santa Catalina island off the coast of Los Angeles. We had a very interesting chat with them throughout the meal. They are both on the board of their local Museum and were full of interesting conversation and information.    

Right after dinner, we were ready to get to our rooms and turn in early as we had a very early start. Llew and I packed up our bags and got ready for bed. In fact, even though I sat in my bed blogging, I was ready to switch the light off at 8.30 pm.

Hasta Manana!