I was to be picked up and taken to the airport at 7 pm, so I had the whole day at leisure around La Fortuna.
On my last day in Costa Rica, I got up at 6:30 am, read, showered, changed, and went down to eat breakfast.  After breakfast, I read and packed.  I enjoyed the air-conditioning in my room until 11 am, when I checked out.  I had the man at the front desk call me a cab to take me to the La Fortuna waterfall.  It's a steep, uphill hike there, so the taxi ($8 + $1 tip) was a great choice. Admission to the waterfall was $10.
I didn't know what to expect as I entered! First view of the waterfall!
The walk down to the waterfall is like double Niagara Whirlpool!
First view of the waterfall!  (It was a 20-minute walk down.) I wish I had brought my swimsuit so I could have gone swimming!
There were so many places to get a good view! The waterfall was my favorite place of the trip!
OK, I couldn't stay forever.  Time to head back up! This arrow up made me feel right at home, as it reminded me of the Niagara Glen!
Oh boy, was it hot!  Look closely to see my arm covered in sweat.  It was dripping off my nose!  The heat of the day is not the best time to do this! It only took me 17 minutes to make it back up!  They had this nice bathroom at the top.
To kill time (and because I am cheap and like to walk), I decided to walk back to town. It was paved most of the way.  This was the steep hill that was much more pleasant walking down than climbing up.  It was steep even in the taxi!
I got some nice views of the volcano on the way back! Most of the way back looked like this.
Once I made the turn toward town, there was even a sidewalk! It took me just over an hour to walk from the waterfall to La Fortuna . . . and, unbelievably, it didn't rain at all during that time!
I'm eating at Soda La Casa de la Hormiga, a local diner in La Fortuna, for a late lunch. I got the casado con pescado (typical Costa Rican plate lunch with fish) again with a pinapple natural drink.  Instead of the beet salad, this one had yummy squash and onions on the side.  $5 covered all of this--a fabulous price!
I read a lot after lunch, but at 6pm, in the last hour before being picked up, I went out to get a treat.  I decided on strawberry ice cream from this chocolateria near the main square for $1.40 and bought a souvenir for a friend for a little less than $3.
   
My driver arrived at 7 pm.  He told me the private transfer to the San Jose airport is $140 (for 1-6 people), so most of my trip cost was the private transfers.  We made record time (less than 2.5 hours!).  [I paid $725 for the package (transfers, hotel, tours) and $570 for airfare for this trip.]

My flight was cancelled, so I was re-booked on the 1:07 am flight the following day.  They put me up at the Best Western San Jose Irazu and paid for meal vouchers.  The hotel had free international calls and wifi, so I was able to call home.  The room was very comfortable (comfy bed, tons of TV channels, great air-conditioning).