33

Our last day of vacation dawned bright and clear. We had a delicious breakfast at our lodge of gallo pinto (ricea and beans), eggs, cheese, fruit, toast and tortillas.

Thus fortified, we headed for the Arenal National Park. We hiked a few miles in, and ended up on lava fields left by the 1992 eruption of the volcano. Samuel made it as far as you are allowed to go.

We saw lizards and birds, very tall bamboo and beautiful flowers on the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eb69OWaJ9E  video of the cicadas and tall trees:

There were three loud rumbles signifying mini eruptions while we hiked! They made up for not seeing any lava at night, due to the cloudy skies.

Next we drove to the hot springs that flow from the volcano. We joined lots of Costa Ricans in swimming in the hot pools. Samuel and Sarah had a ball riding the swift current of water through a chute under a bridge where an abandoned hot springs resort was.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcBsQmjpgw0



We returned to the lodge and found an even more elaborate towel sculpture awaiting us.

The kids had a last swim in the pool.

We had dinner at the lodge steakhouse.

Sarah had a big steak,

and we relaxed on our last evening in Costa Rica. The pool is lit up very pretty at night.

Tomorrow it is time to return home. See you all soon!

Your last chamce to comment: