Costa Rica, Arenal and Jaco


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Published: April 25th 2012
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1: Looking at Arenal Volcano from our hotel 18 secs
We were sad to leave the Peace Lodge as it had been a restful place to stay after our busy tour of Guatemala but we were also looking forward to our next stop at the base of the Arenal volcano. It was a fairly easy 2 and a half hour drive to Arenal, we were very pleased to check in to our hotel and find it exceed our expectations. The Royal Corin has a number of hot spas and pools all feed by hot thermal springs. We had been able to get a good internet deal and found ourselves in one of the hotels suites. The room was huge and had a fantastic view over the pool area and towards the volcano which continued to smoke the three days we were there.

We found ourselves relaxing by the hot thermal pools for most of our stay except for the one day when Ron persuaded Alex to go to Arenal Sky Tram and Sky Trek. The start of this adventure was fairly tame, starting at a private reserve near El Castillo, on the North facing slopes of the Cordillera de Tilaran with views to the volcano we ascend the mountain in a Sky Tram that rose 236 metres in a 1250 meter ride. When reached the top we had a lesson before starting the Sky Trek zip line circuit. We zipped along nearly three kilometres of cables over ten zip lines ranging from 30 metres to 200 metres in height and from 200 to 750 metres in length. For someone that does not like heights Alex was amazed she got through the course as she could see the rain forest well below as we zipped across the gullies. The guide had explained that if you went too slow you could get stuck half way across the zip line and that the best way to go was to tuck up your legs and keep straight going as fast as possible. Needless to say Alex went as fast as possible as she didn't want to get stuck above a 200 metre drop.

After three relaxing nights (except zipping down the mountain) we had a driver take us to our last stop in Costa Rica, Villa Caletas set high above the Pacific Ocean. The drive from Arenal took around 4 hours including a half hour stop for lunch. We wound our way over the mountain ranges and the scenery changed from rainforest to a drier climate along the coast. When we arrived at Villa Caletas we found our villa had a beautiful view over the ocean and we enjoyed watching the sunset. Our last full day in Costa Rica was spent relaxing at Villa Caletas private beach.


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26th April 2012

The trip looks fantastic Alex & Ron, judging by the photos! I'm sure you won't want to leave. Have fun!
7th May 2012

I want to be in your suitcase
It looks absolutely gorgeous - love the view from your hotel. Pretending I'm with you instead of in cold and wet Stockport. xx

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