Day 4 - volcano hike and hot springs

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Last scrumptious breakfast with Randall and company before starting the jeep-boat-jeep trip to La Fortuna at 8:30am. Not sure why they call it jeep since it's just a typical mini-van taxi but... I guess it sounds more appealing. The trip down to Arenal lake was very scenic with many farms along steep mountain sides. However, the winding roads started to get to Lina as she became white as a ghost and a little noxious. 1/2 hr boat ride was nice and warmer since the sun finally came out. We could see Arenal volcano as a backdrop to the lake; very impressive. Arenal is a perfectly shaped volcano that is not attached to other mountains. Its cone was hidden in the clouds, which apparently is quite typical.Arrived at our hotel (Kokoro) and were pleasantly surprised by the grounds. Lush colorful gardens with a pool, hot tub and even its own hot springs! Today, it is much warmer. We got settled into our room, kids went swimming a little bit and then it was time for another activity: volcano hike followed by an evening of hot springs. Hike lasted about 2 hrs and took us to a view point of the volcano. As it turns out, the volcano has been inactive for just over a year :(. After the hike, we were shuttled to a 5 star hotel for a little pampering. The tour gave us a dinner at the hotel and access to all the hot spring fed pools on the grounds. One of the pools even had a slide which was a nice bonus: kids got to burn some of their eternal energy while the parents relaxed! Needless to say, we hit the sack pretty hard that night.

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