We wrapped things up in Tamarindo on Friday with Sadie taking one last surf lesson. We had arranged for Molly to join the younger kids, but she decided the waves were too small for her tastes. I guess three weeks spoiled her, but Sadie has learned the important lesson that there is no such thing as a bad day surfing.
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| Sadie catching one of her final waves |
The journey from Tamarindo to the Arenal area wound up being quite long due to construction, collisions, and other excitement. We finally got to our lodge, well after dark. Rustic doesn't begin to describe it. As we drove out here, we got more and more off the beaten path. The roads continued to get worse, and we were driving through dense fog or clouds. I was very dubious at first: there was no one at reception, just a sign that said to check the hotel; driving on to the restaurant, the cabins didn't look quite as appealing as they appeared on the Internet; and when we reached the restaurant, the owner greeted us in English, asking the driver if he spoke English. Turns out this place is run by a couple of Floridians (Sarasota area) who packed up and moved to Costa Rica, buying a farm and turning it into a little retreat. After dinner the owner showed us to our cabin, showing us the hammocks on the back deck and the outdoor shower (there is an indoor one as well - we almost have two bathrooms!). We went to sleep to the sounds of heavy rain on the tin roof.
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| Costa Rican ambulance - converted Toyota 4x4 |
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| View of Lake Arenal - apparently we took the scenic route |
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| Obligatory pig photo from our horchata stop |
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| Sadie checking out the guest bath |
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| Outdoor shower |
As they often do, things looked better in the morning. We awoke to a light drizzle but headed out to milk the cows and gather eggs. Molly opted to sleep a bit more instead, but joined us for a nice breakfast. The owners joined us and brought along their pet parrot (it says "Hola!").
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| Kathleen getting some milk for my coffee |
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| Intently focused on milking the cow |
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| Sadie gathering eggs |
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| After a few tries, Sadie is a pro |
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| Less scared of the river now that she has been in it before |
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| With our guide |
After the rafting adventure, we had a nice, late lunch that included a plantain ceviche that I will be trying to replicate back home. They also showed us their version of pour-over coffee, and demonstrated how Guaro de Cana (the local sugarcane-based liquor, similar to rum or aguardiente) is made. We sampled both, along with raw sugarcane and freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice. This Guaro stuff was 130 proof and we took it straight, no chaser. I think it helped to counteract the coffee.
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| The local firewater |
We arrived back in town a bit early, so we walked a bit to shop for souveniers. We also got a brief glimpse of the volcano. We were told to grab a photo if we saw it, as it would cloud up again at any moment - so there wasn't a whole lot of time to think about shot composition. Unfortunately Sadie tripped and grabbed a cactus, so we wound up visiting the local urgent care facility to have the spines removed.
We finished the evening (and a very long day) with a visit to a local wildlife center for a night tour. We ran into some folks from the school in Tamarindo, and got to see lots of interesting creatures including:
- A sloth (and her baby) - spotted by Sadie
- a salamander - spotted by Molly
- Caymans
- Various types of lizards
- Several frogs and toads, including the poison blue dart frog and the red-eyed tree frog
- A couple of kinkajous
Unfortunately the camera battery died so we only got a few shots with my cell phone.
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