Cerro Chato, La Fortuna Falls, Baldi Hot Springs

Dear Diary,
Today I began my day by swimming in a volcano.

Wait, what?

I almost can't believe it either.  After an omelette breakfast I caught a cab with friends Nick (L.A.) and Nicole (Chicago) to the base of dormant Cerro Chato Volcano, just SW of Volcán Arenal.  The hike up was as humid as humanly possible and as steep and long as Camelback back home in Phoenix.  I can probably safely say I've never sweat so much in my life.  But at the end of the 3km uphill hike through the forest, we were greeted by this:

Cerro Chato Lagoon.  Possibly the most refreshing swim I've ever had.  The lake has cool, crystalline green waters and an unbelievable view of Volcán Arenal.  We kept telling ourselves, "Hey...is this real life? We're swimming in a volcano right now."

After the hike down Nick and I trekked down to La Fortuna Falls, nearly as stunning:

The hike down was a cinch compared to Cerro Chato.  The pool at the bottom was cold and way refreshing, and the water tasted like the R-O stuff we have at home, but sweeter and better.  You could see fish swimming around in the clear blue water as you swam around.  The falls had a ton of power; the sound of it should be recorded and sold till it goes platinum.

Hiking and swimming all day was a great change of pace for me.  This was really what I came to Costa Rica for.  But it was also draining and we were starving.  Enter Luis the street meat guy:

All the locals were crowding around to get their chicken and pork kabobs from this guy, so you know it's good.  The meat was ridiculously tender and slathered in his special picante sauce.  Perfection.

Later we got a group together to go to Baldi Hot Springs, where there's water slides, swim-up bars, and an all-you-can-eat buffet.  I'll let you guess which one I was most excited about.  First we hit the slides, where the guy up top actually encouraged us to go down backwards, head-first.  God bless this place. One of them was pitch black, tossed you around from wall to wall  at 30 mph and actually got you airborne towards the end before dumping you out into the hot springs pool below.  Hitting that water was like getting punched in the face.  It was way too enjoyable.

The food was pretty good, and I maxxed out my stomach's capacity pretty quick.  The best part?  Coffee.  Definitely going to have to drink more of the super-roasty Costa Rican joe.  We hopped from spring to spring, scalded our toes trying out the 113 degree pool, and enjoyed a round of cervezas from Brian (San Diego) before heading back to the hostel.  Thinking back on the day still makes me wonder if it really happened.  Judging by how tired I am, it probably did.  Tomorrow I'll likely be heading to Monteverde to do the Extremo zip-line canopy tour.  But things can always change when you've got a month to see everything.  And there's always that 50% chance of myself oversleeping and missing the bus.  But really, it's all good.

Pura vida.