La Fortuna Waterfall

Our first trip of the day was to this waterfall, just outside of La Fortuna, a relatively large town, centred around the tourist trade for the Arenal volcano and National Park.

Cloud seems to drift permanently around the canopies and, by the time we'd walked down the 500 steps to the base of the waterfall here, a heavy rain had set in again, putting paid to any plans we might have had to swim in the pools at the waterfall's base. As it happened the force of the falls and strength of the current it created was enough to deter us from any such thoughts!

Instead, we took a stroll through the town itself, geared largely to tourist activities.

In the afternoon we were taken to a cocoa plantation and shown how chocolate was produced using traditional methods, including trying out the original hot chocolate drink.

Our evening trip was to a local hot springs centre. Most of the hotels in town seem to have hot pools like ours, fed by springs from the volcano, but this one boasted 7, each at slightly lower temperatures as they descended the hill. It was very pleasant to work our way up and down the subtly lit pools before the evening meal, but La Fortuna is easily the most touristy of the places we have visited so far.

Hope ther's enough greenery in this to meet the criteria for Hobbs' monthly challenge.

Today's extra is of a cocoa, or cacao, flower.