Canopy tour and the waterfall

So, another quintessential Costa Rican adventure is the canopy tour. At 8am we left the hotel for a private estate that has been preserved by one family, covering over 600 acres. The guide stunned us with her detailed knowledge of the biology of the area. We encountered leaf cutting ants, howler monkeys (though only by sound), and myriad other creepy crawleys and amazing vegetation. They walked very slowly while doing the tour and it was even then still hard to keep up for me – there was so much to shoot!!! (with a camera of course).

The pictures tell the story here.

We finished today off by going to an incredible waterfall in the jungle. It must have been over 100m tall dropping into an incredibly picturesque pool. There were many places to play and swim in the river here making it very enjoyable for all of us. Though the water was a bit cold it was still so much fun and well worth the long steep hike to get there.

The Spa at Tabacon and La Fortuna

This town, situated at the base of the Arenal Volcano, is an adventure mecca. The Hotel we arrived at, the Tabacon Grand Spa, was beautiful. But we only discovered how great the hotel was later today when we went in the hotel’s hot springs. They are the most elaborate and developed pool/springs I have ever seen in my life. They make Banff uncompelling. This is a spring river that literally flows very warm water right through the heart of the jungle. They have been modified so that the natural springs are formed into pools and waterfalls spanning hundreds of meters up the spring river. The spa also includes amazing stone tiled pools that make it exceptional. Relaxation is no chore here. They even have the spa treatments where you walk out into the jungle to private cabanas to be treated in unparalleled comfort. I sound like I’m advertising for this place but it really is that amazing and different. I’ve not encountered anything like it before in my life.

The rooms are very nice and the beds are a welcome sight for a long days adventure.

Maybe the waterslide was the best part

La Fortuna Day 1- zip lining our way to happiness

Today we partook in the quintessential Costa Rican adventure tourism activity – Zip Lining. You really can’t describe the craziness of zipping 600ft through the trees and over huge canyons yielding incredible views. We began by driving up to the base of a gondola that delivers you to the top of the zip line experience. The gondola gets your heart flowing with inspiring views that are then later eclipsed by the stunning views that you can barely focus on when zipping across the massive gullies. It is a rush that really can be done by anyone. Even Logan, at 8yrs old was ok to go (though with a guide for any of the long ones). He loved it and so did all of us. All of us think we would do it again if we came back here in the future.

We finished today wandering the town, picking up necessary tourist doo-dads and a few groceries, namely beer. And then we ate at the Tabacon’s hotel restaurant – an incredible meal that I won’t soon forget – amazing lamb chops.

To La Fortuna, the road is an adventure.

We woke up early, but it still took hours to get out of the hotel - that's what happens when you travel.....with 6 people.

We enjoyed the drive up from Alajuela, where the airport is. We briefly stopped in San Ramon to check out a neat old church. It had apparently collapsed in an earthquake and was rebuilt some time ago using German engineered steel reinforcements. Well, it's still standing!!!!

Kevin brought walkie-talkies and they turned out to be awesome to have. We could warn each other of turn offs we though we might take etc. Also, when Kevin was driving behind me and we were passing, I could tell him about what was ahead so that he could pass if needed and know how far to the next car. We stayed very close together and stopped for lunch along the way at a fantastic restaurant on the side of the road. We had our first Imperial beer here - this is the local popular brew.



A Petro-Canada????


The Chruch in San Ramon





Logan is thinking about the pool at the next place.











My first Imperial....on the road to La Fortuna


My second Imperial
The food at this place was specatular. Excellent local cuisine.

At the end of the day, we ended up at the restaurant and Logan had huge ribs.

Rescued from cold and snow - safely in the heat now!!!
We had enough of airports yesterday.

After doing all the usual airport-standing-in-line we were very, very lucky when we got off the plane in Costa Rica. Somehow when we got off the plane we were the absolute last people to get on the transfer bus to the terminal. As such, we got off the bus first and were put at the front of the customs line. We whizzed through that and, like nothing I've ever seen before, the suitcases were already on the baggage carousel. Then, right to our left as we walked out, was the car rental. They drove us immediately to the car rental offices where we picked up our cars - mostly as promised (Kevin got upgraded to a giant diesel). Then it turns out that the hotel we booked was right across the street from the car rental. We loaded our bags and drove a block!!!