Blogs from Arenal, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 11

Hello everyone...sorry to take so long to send some pics but this travel blog is very slow and we lost some pictures as well. On Christmas day in the early morning hours we got into our canopy flying fatigues (just like you were sky diving) and had one hell of a ride through the rainforest. Gary and Dani loved the excitement and the view. Darlene screamed all the way. After a quick lunch we headed to another place for an ATV four wheeling tour. It was fantastic. We were taken through lots of rough terrain, rivers, huge mud holes - Dani gave it the gas to spray as much mud on us as she could! It was two hours of fun. The next morning we headed to LaPaz Waterfall Gardens and Peace Lodge. The scenery was ... read more

After taking a few crappy local buses, we decided to try out one of the "turismo" minvans to get to our next destination: the town of La Fortuna, next to Volcano Arenal in the northern part of Costa Rica. It probably would have taken us about 9 hours to get there via local buses - on the turismo minivan, it only took 5. Worth the extra cost, although Trish was still feeling motion sick and needed to lie down when we got here. In the evening we took a quick tour up to the north side of the volcano to watch the lava flow down the side. It was pouring with rain and most of the volcano was hidden in cloud, so I was pretty skeptical whether or not we would see anything much at all. ... read more

After watching the lava flow the night before (but I missed the 1 am eruption), we got up for a hike in the hanging bridges reserve. Another private property with outstanding views of the volcano, and lots more flora, fauna, and wildlife. This was a tough hike for me as one part was very steep. It takes me a little longer but I got there. The hanging bridges swing and are quite high up. The highlight of this hike was the strawberry poison dart frog, howler monkeys (they sound like dogs), and the yellow eyelash viper we saw at the last bridge. This night we went to the Hidalgo Family Hot Springs which is a family run operation on private property with springs heated by the volcano. The pools begin with a small very hot one ... read more

This past Semana Santa (Good Week), I stayed at a cottage with my host family and two other families. It was really laid-back and fun. Everyday we would take a hike either through the forest or to the river and just relax. The wildlife was awesome as well. Interesting birds and a two-toed sloth living in the front yard was more than sufficient for a trigger-happy photographer like myself!... read more

The clouds parted and we awoke to a spectacular view of the Arenal Volcano far from our balcony. We were incredibly lucky considering no one had seen it for weeks due to cloud cover. We had a lovely pancakes, maple syrup, and plantain breakfast (again...), and prepared to mount our horses! Yep, we decided to make our 3-hour journey to the volcano by horse! Now during the course of our trip, James and I had decided to place each animal we crossed in to 2 categories: Crazies and Assholes. For example, animals we had never seen before and did not know the names of (and there are many) were referred to as Crazies. Animals such as Hummingbirds who are beautiful but did not stay still for photographs are Assholes. My horse was an Asshole. He cantered ... read more