La Fortuna / Arenal

I made the 37 USD shuttle ride to La Fortuna and I am spending two nights here to see one thing only - real lava flowing from the top of the active Arenal volcano. Unfortunately, this is unlikely as it is raining tonight (thus the clouds obscuring any view) and I have no reason to think it will be clear tomorrow, but who knows!

I also had to wander around town, checking out cabinas (motels) because my hostel had a pipe burst and had to turn me away, even though I had a reservation. Fair enough, and for only 6 USD more than the 14 USD I was going to pay, I have my own private motel room with a clean bathroom and small t.v. I spent this afternoon organising and reading (James found it odd that I answered my phone so quickly when he called me today, and when I told him it was because I was using my phone as a calculator....to work on my vacation budget I don't think he was impressed. But there's no changing me in that respect!).

I just had a cheap casado nearby and found even cheaper Internet than in Tamarindo. It is only 1 USD per hour here!!!! At least if it's raining all night tomorrow I will have something to do! Tomorrow during the day I have a tour from 3 30 to 6 30 where we take a walk/hike on the other side of the volcano where the view is often better. The tour is only 15 USD compared to the 25 or higher I have seen elsewhere, so if I don't see anything, at least I tried. If the weather is nice in the morning, I will hike up to a waterfall as well. Post to be updated tomorrow...

Update, Saturday 7pm:

The tour was canceled this afternoon because of the rain, but I got my money back so I wasn't too worried. Instead, I lay in bed and watched movies in Spanish. But then I got a call from Interbus, the company I am using to get to Puerto Viejo tomorrow to escape the rain and get back in the sunshine. Or so I thought. Unfortunately, the rain hasn't let up here, or elsewhere in CR. There is flooding on the Eastern side of the country and the soonest they think I can get there is Tuesday, maybe.

I was hoping that my hotel in Puerto Viejo won't charge me, but I just looked at their website and they have a 72 hour cancellation policy. I wonder how nice they will be about the flooding....I am waiting to call them until Interbus calls me back and confirms if I can get back to Tamarindo tomorrow instead. I may as well try to get back in the sunshine!

I really want to get to Puerto Viejo by Wednesday because I have two nights there pre paid at 70/night! Sigh. This part of the trip really isn't going too well. It's raining, La Fortuna is completely boring without the volcano in view, and I'm traveling by myself, finding the food here to be palatable but not very interesting.