Arenal is in the northern part of the country. The volcano was extremely active up until less than 10 years ago. It’s now a beautiful mountain in the middle of some lush green forests. Our resort in this area was truly unique, and the view was spectacular. This was more like the Costa Rica that I wanted to see than the ocean or the city.

Arenal

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2/27/15—3/6/15

We left Guanacaste and traveled east, stopping for lunch in Nuevo Arenal. More gardens were located at the place, and we enjoyed them almost as much as we enjoyed our lunch with John, Sue, and Ronda.

We got on a pontoon boat on the west side of Lake Arenal and traveled across it until we saw the beautiful Arenal Volcano. The tip of the volcano was not under clouds, so its shape was clearly visible.

We arrived at the Arenal Springs Resort & Spa and new instantly it was someplace very different. The rooms were actually duplexes lined up down a series of streets. Every room had a large glass entrance door and full-length window that looked out to the volcano. The bathrooms had a shower that housed live plants that were watered from small openings in the Plexiglas roof that allowed rain to roll down the rock face. They had a swim up bar located in one of the hot springs, and there were multiple levels of hot spring pools. We had the added enjoyment of an anniversary present, a bottle of wine and some fresh rose petals.

We had dinner at a nearby outdoor restaurant.

We woke up to a beautiful morning in front of the volcano

We went on a 2.5 mile nature hike across hanging bridges. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, but we did see these coatimundis and a big toucan. The trail was treacherous, and many in our group struggled, so Madeline and I took off down this one trail all by ourselves. We were rewarded with a lovely waterfall.

 

The plant life was very interesting, though, and it was another beautiful day in front of the Arenal Volcano.

Lunch was in Fortuna, where there was a beautiful church and some good tropical drinks.

We had some time after our lunch and visit in Fortuna to enjoy the springs and swim-up bar. The day ended with a beautiful full moon.

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