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Friday April 18, 2008

Vacation review of Costa Rica: part 5 (pics)

Awesome shot of the Arenal Volcano . My pics weren't this good and I couldn't get one at night to prove my sightings of red hot boulders.

I love warning signs with no fence, although this sign of High Volcanic Risk was pretty scary. I hear that a few folks die a year from gases and tumbling rocks.

Vacation review of Costa Rica: part 4

I want to wrap up from Costa Rican blogging with the possible exception of a few more pictures at some point with this entry.

After two day nights at Finca Rosa Blanca, we went to the Peace Lodge at La Paz Waterfalls and were blown away. The Peace Lodge may be the greatest hotel stay ever. It was a bathroom that happened to come with a bedroom. The bathroom had a waterfall, just flip the switch, a hot tub, a waterfall shower, a regular awesome shower and hundred, yes, hundreds of plants. The bedroom was impressive with a big poster bed with netting and a river rock fireplace. At 6500 feet in elevation, that fireplace was running the whole time we were there. The high temperature during our visit was 65, although nights was only high 50's...

The Peace Lodge had great waterfalls and trails as well as a Zoo/park attached. As guest, we were free to come and go but many tour buses stopped each day for the same attractions. I love the hummingbirds, while my kids liked the birds, monkeys and big cats. MayMay the puma was a favorite and still talked about in my house. The 6 month old Puma chased my kids as they run up and down the steps beside her cage. Can you say "prey"? I was impressed how much the employees cared for the animals as well as how close we could get to those same animals. I had to get a toucan away from my little one's Crocs as the toucan was trying to pull her butterfly gibit off the shoe. You don't see that at the National Zoo in DC.

The final stop on our CR tour with at the Arenal Volcano and Tabacon Hot Spring Resort. I loved the area and the bungee jumping/zipline/adventure theme of the area. I however was very upset with the 5 stars Tabacon Resort. It was at best a "Best Western" with a hot volcanic spring running thru the property. The service at Tabacon was great. The rooms were dark, no overhead lights and five 40 watt bulbs in a double room and the bedspread was that nasty and Motel 6 quality. Not fine thread count like all the other nice places we stayed and Tabacon was the most expensive place on our trip. I will not let a friend of mine stay there if I can help it.

We did see the Volcano erupting on our final night from our balcony. The sky above the volcano would turn orange/pink and then we would see a red ball rolling down our side of the mountain. The lava flow is actually boulders getting blown out every few minutes and not like Hawaii where it is a molten river.

We loved Costa Rica and may start learning spanish in the area so I'm more ready for my next trip.