Hot Springs and a Boat Ride

Today we hung out all morning at our Hotel. They have several hot springs and swimming pools. Each hot spring was a different temperature and many had several together: one hot, one cooler and one that felt cold. It reminded me of hot tubbing in Michigan in the winter when we would sit in the hot tub until we were almost cooked and then ran into the snow. Only here you get into the cold spring.

After lunch (and a massage for the gals) we were on our way to Monteverde. Monteverde is in a cloud forest and where we were (Arenal volcano) is near a rain forest. The elevation is very different. Arenal area is about 3,200 feet above sea level and Monteverde is about 4,500).

Even though these two areas are close geographically, you need to travel all the way around or across Lake Arenal to get from one to the other because the terrain is so rough, no roads have been put in.

We took a bus a short distance to the lake and hopped in a boat for a ride across the lake. Beautiful country side and great views of Arenal volcano. Because the volcano is still "hot" (but not active) there are clouds around the top almost all the time. Yesterday we had a good view of the top in the late afternoon but today it looks like the clouds will hang around all day.

After the boat, we boarded another bus for a ride up, up, up! Switchbacks, narrow and very bumpy roads. Our driver had to go slow. The mountains are steep and I had to feel a little sorry for the cows and horses since I'm used to seeing them on flatter ground. I'm sure they actually manage just fine.

It rained on the way over and we saw a rainbow from end to end! It took about 4 hours in all to get from one hotel to the other. By the time we arrived, it was getting dark (remember that happens here around 6:00pm). Since we have acclimated to temps in the 90's with a few days over 100, up here, on the top of a mountain, at our hotel it was windy and felt very COLD like it could start snowing at any minute - even though it was probably only around 60.

We settled in for the night listening to the wind howl as we snuggled into our warm bed.