Someone´s making a fortuna here.

Trip Start Sep 16, 2007
1
66
87
Trip End Ongoing


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Costa Rica  ,
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

La Fortuna is a town that, unlike Pompeii, for example, sprung back to life after a volcano spewed its guts over the inhabitants. The Volcano Arenal makes for a very cool backdrop to this one-street town of tour companies, fried chicken joints and backpacker hostels. It is Central America's most active volcano (it erupted bigtime in 1968, and has been belching and farting ever since) and is the main attraction here. Everyone's cashing in on it, and it is almost impossible to appreciate nature here without paying for the privilege.

We blagged a discount into the national park: our sheer outrage at being charged the same as visitors in cars got us in for less. The volcano was impressive. A constant grumble came from above with the explosions and mini-lava flows and the everpresent cloud of ash.

We took a long walk through the rainforest, beating a path that didn't seem to have been used for a long long time, except maybe by a jaguar or two. We stopped every ten yards to marvel at some new plant that we'd never seen before. Costa Rica must be a botanist's dream, or nightmare. You'd never get anything logged. There's SO MUCH STUFF in the forests here!

The following day we wanted to check out some waterfalls. We knew we were going to be charged some ridiculous price to go and see them, but first we decided to take a walk up a hill - at least that wouldn't cost anything - to work up a sweat before taking a dip in the river. A woman came rushing out of a house as we passed and demanded our tickets. She wanted eight dollars from each of us for the privilege of walking up the hill. We asked what we got for our $8: a sherpa to piggyback us up there perhaps? 
"It's for track maintenance", we were told.
"At eight bucks a head, the track should have a red carpet leading to the summit", I answered, polite and calm, but outraged. Then Eunate and both I launched into a rant about how despicable it was that we were being charged to go for a walk.  

My complaint with Costa Rica is that many locals don't have a genuine love for the nature that surrounds them, but rather a love for the money that this natural beauty can bring them. Granted, this country isn't as (openly) polluted as others, but in the long run I think that this greed can be just as destructive to our environment as sawmills and hydroelectric dams. "Eco"-tourism is, to me, an oxymoron.

The lady at least pretended to sympathise with us, but didn't capitulate. So we told her we were going to go to Nicaragua instead, which we did...      
Print this entry La Fortuna hotels