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We broke camp at Miramar at 8:30. Saying goodbye was made a little easier by the weather. Yesterday we had gloriously clear and sunny weather, and no rain at all. It was a great way to spend our last day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the house and view. Today, however, was overcast and gray, so packing and leaving weren’t quite so hard. Sarah posed by the pool one last time.

Samuel has an increasingly good eye for wildlife, and spotted a praying mantis on the light by our gate.

We got on the road and made good time all the way to Jaco where we stopped for brunch. We went to a local landmark, the Taco Bar, where they have seats that are swings. Sarah had a citrus iced tea (tangy!) and Samuel tried to figure out if he was a mujer or an hombre.

We pushed on, passing a bridge over the river Tarcoles, where crocodiles lounge in the mud.

This guy is about 9 feet long. That’s a butterfly on his back. Nobody wanted a swim break, for some reason.

Then we crossed some very rural and mountainous terrain on our way to the Arenal Volcano area. This house in San Ramon has its own nativity scene on the 3rd floor (zoom in).

These mountain people were having a celebration with mariachi music and cowboys on horseback drinking beer.

Finally we got to Fortuna, which is the service town for the volcano and National Park. We ate at the Lava Lounge. Sarah’s rice came shaped like a volcano!

We are now ensconced at the Linda Vista del Norte hotel (after a 5 mile ride on a bad dirt road).

http://www.hotellindavista.com/



More news  and some videos tomorrow on what we get up to.