So today was Joan's birthday. After a leisurely breakfast, watching the birds and the clouds on Volcan Arenal, we decided to spend the afternoon at Ecotermales Fortuna which is about a five minute drive away. A big machine had broken down outside Posada Colonial's gate and a man we underneath it trying to fix it.

Whereas the Baldi spa was more like a water park, this was more akin to the spas we have visited before such as the Termas Geometricas near Volcan Villarica in Chile.

The spa was a series of pools set in a ravine. The hottest pool was at the top and they got cooler towards the bottom. It was very quiet and a lot of the time had the pools to ourselves. You could have brightly coloured cocktails if you liked but we were driving and abstained. As it got dark, the place began to fill but by then we had soaked and gently simmered our bones enough.

Too relaxed to do anything extravagant, we had a dinner of pasta.