After spending some time in El Salvador, it was time to head to Costa Rica, where I volunteered as a yoga instructor at a hostel located in La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a town located in the north of San Jose (the capital city of Costa Rica) and it took me around 4 hours by public bus to get there from San Jose. It was my very first time in Costa Rica, so I was extremely excited to be in a new country in Central America, exploring what the country has to offer.
I decided to volunteer with Worldpackers again, but this time I applied to a position where I could teach yoga to people who stay at Arenal Sloth Hostel to travel. Check out my previous posts about Worldpackers experience in Mexico and Guatemala.
My duties & schedule:
My main duty was to teach yoga (mostly to beginners), but I had minor duties, such as helping with online content creation and taking videos and photos for the hostel's Instagram account. My host mainly took videos/photos of me teaching yoga or exploring the area with other hostel guests, and he created online content from them to promote the hostel on Instagram. He also invited me to be a collaborator on Instagram for an online feed that he posted on the hostel's IG page. I created content for my own Instagram account to document my travels/experiences and asked the hostel to be my collaborator on some relevant posts.
La Fortuna Things to do
When I was not teaching yoga, I spent time exploring La Fortuna. I was there during the rainy season so it rained most of the afternoon. Still, I could get to places I wanted to explore earlier in the day and would be back in the hostel around lunchtime. Here are some of the places I recommend when in La Fortuna (check out my IG (@sr_ch_) for more photos and videos:
1. El Salto
It's a free community pool with a rope swing, and it's very popular among the locals and travelers! Make sure to do the rope swing and enjoy swimming! It is only a 30-minute walk from downtown La Fortuna (Uber is expensive in La Fortuna, DiDi/InDrive unavailable).
2. El Choyin
It's a free natural hot spring with gorgeous views. Parking is not easy, so make sure to take an Uber or carpool. (Not in a walkable distance).
3. Cerro Chato
Entrance fee: $15 USD (definitely worth it)
Hiking time: 5 hours round trip.
Difficulty: Strenuous
Make sure to bring swimsuit (there is a crater to swim in at the summit)
4. La Fortuna Waterfall
Entrance Fee: $20 USD
This is not a place for hiking, but a place to go swimming if you'd like to swim close to a waterfall that is 70m high.
Overall, my experience in La Fortuna was great. I loved volunteering as a yoga instructor and meeting so many travelers. My two weeks in La Fortuna went by so fast, and I do want to come back to explore more.
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