Day 1 - sheer fun and excitement

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Today was our first day of the week long vacation in Costa Rica. We arrived in San Jose yesterday and stayed in a hotel just outside the city. Today morning we were picked by the tour operators (pre-booked) from our hotel for a day long visit to Arenal volcano and surrounding areas. The drive from San Jose to Arenal is about 3-4hrs long and on the way we passed through Grecia, Sarchi, Naranjo and San Ramon. We saw a beautiful church in Grecia. The tour guide told us the structure was metallic and was made that way to withstand earthquake tremors. At Sarchi we got a chance to visit a handicraft shop and also saw artists at work. We had a great time at the Tabacon hot springs resort. Had loads of fun in the hot water pools and spent the afternoon quite well. Chances of see lava flows from the volcano diminished as the weather went from bad ro worse. However thanks to the perseverance of our tour guide we did get to see two small explosions and associated lava flows at night. At the end of the day we were satisfied and happy for a day well spent at the handicraft workshop and the hot spring resort. That we were able to see some volcanic activity in spite of the unfavorable weather conditions, was an added bonus. We are staying near the volcano tonight. Tomorrow it will be a ride to the waterfall on horseback.

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