Santa Elena

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We arrived in Santa Elena via the Jeep-Boat-Jeep tour that cost us each $20 and was TOTALLY worth it. It cut out about 3 hours from a public bus from Fortuna to Monteverde and was MUCH nicer scenary. We took one busito (van holding 10-12 people) to the Arenal lake, then took a boat 45 minutes across the lake. The view was beautiful and very relaxing. Once on shore, we caught another busito for about 1.5 hours to Santa Elena. The whole trip was about 3 hours.

During the trip I met another teacher from Kingston. Her name is Lisa. She did her undergrad at Guelph and teacher's college at Queens. She's currently on Christmas vacation from her school where she teaches in Curacao! She says "why teach in Canada when you have the opportunity to teach AND travel elsewhere?"

We're staying at Pension Santa Elena. This place was VERY helpful before I even arrived - sending me sample itineraries and everything. Walt and I are staying in a private room with shared bathroom for $18 per night. The bed is SO comfy too!

We've checked out the town, got some groceries to make dinner tonight at the hostel, and planned our fun-filled Christmas day for tomorrow. We'll start the morning on a hike of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, then spend the afternoon ziplining over the Santa Elena reserve. Should be a good day. For today, the plan is to relax. Nada mas.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas Eve from Costa Rica!
PURA VIDA!

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Photos

Arenal Lake
water portion of our "Jeep-Boat-Jeep" trip from Fortuna to Monteverde

Volcano
Leaving Arenal

Countryside
Where we stopped for a short break

Pension Santa Elena
Hung some rope in our room at the hostel