In a few words, it was great!<br><br>We arrived in San Jose in the early afternoon and had a ride waiting to take us to the Arenal area, specifically Tabacon Resort, where we had reserved a room for 3 nights, after that we were just going to wing it based on what and where people recommended we go and stay. We stopped half way there to grab some lunch and drink a few beers (actually my lunch) and then we were off again. We got quite a lesson on Costa Rica from our driver which was great. They sure grow a lot of house plants down there. When we got to Tabacon, we dropped our bags and hit the volcanic heated river, and the swim up bar. This was pretty cool, a flowing river that was about 104 degrees, a great place to relax.<br><br>The next day we actually saw the top of the volcano in the morning, it is usually shrouded in clouds. We signed up for an afternoon hike through the forest and up onto the lava flow. We were fortunate to see some white faced monkeys that our guide said he had never seen there before. As we neared the volcano you could hear the lava coming down the side of the volcano. There were a lot of clouds, but as it got darker you could actually see the lava coming down the side of the volcano. Our guide said it would be a good idea to get moving since it was getting dark and the snakes start to come out - our pace quicken slightly. The next day we went white water rafting and even though it was the dry season, we still had a lot of fun and met some great people.<br><br>The acommadations at Tabacon were nice but the food at dinner was not as good as we were expecting. They did have a breakfast buffet that was included with your stay and that was very good. We did hear that the dinner buffet was good, but did not try it. Had a great burger at the swim up bar though. The tourism desk at Tabacon was excellent, they actually helped to plan and reserve the rest of our vacation and they hit everything on the mark[Linked Image].<br><br>Next we were off to Monte Verde. We took a boat ride to the other side of Lake Arenal, nice ride and then it was a 1.5 hour ride to our hotel, the El Sapo Dorado. Let me tell you about the roads: everyone is familiar with gravel roads right? Well these roads are made out of boulders. When most people are driving around on motorcross motorcycles you soon understand why. The good news is it helps keep the casual tourist away. When we got to the El Sapo we immediately signed up for a canopy tour, the Original one. It is certainly a leap of faith and well worth it, I found them to be extremely focused on safety. The next morning we went up to the cloud forest in search of the elusive Ketsel. We found it and it is a magnificent bird. I was amazed at the amount of people that go there to bird watch.<br><br>The El Sapo Dorado is a great place to stay and you could watch the sun set across the Pacific from your room. The food was some of the best we had on the trip. We only stayed there one night but there was enough to do and see that we could have easily spent a couple nights there.<br><br>After the cloud forest we were off to the beaches on the Pacific. A three and half hour ride, half of which is devoted to the worlds bumpiest roads, and we were at the Hotel Sugar Beach in time to see the sun set. Sugar beach is located just north of Flamingo Beach. The hotel is small, about 30 rooms spread out over 8 to 10 buildings and it is the only residence on the beach. Great beach, not crowded and no rip tide. When we got out of the car the heat hit you hard, 103 degrees in the shade on the beach, but a little heat feels good after a long Minnesota winter. We just hung out here relaxed, read, ate, and drank [Linked Image]. We did have a little excitement the last night though. <br><br>It appears that the hunters like to set fires to drive the deer out of the woods. Well there had been a fire going for the better part of the day and into the early evening on the other side of the mountain. We were sitting at the bar talking and began to wonder what everyone was looking at, so being the curious people we are, we got off our bar stools and went to have a look too. What we saw was a wild fire burning down the mountain towards the resort. We watched it for a while and then thught that we should get our stuff together in case we had to leave in a real hurry. I would not have bet you a dollar we would have spent the night there but we did and the fire stopped, or was stopped about 100 yds away.<br><br>Well after seven days it was time to head home. We decided to fly from Tamarindo to San Jose ($66) instead of drive 5.5 hours, a no brainer. The Tamarindo airport is a gas. First you have to drive across a dry river bed, then pay your departure fee, and then rush to check in with the guy sitting underneath a tree with a fold up card table, you don't even need to show ID. They weigh your bags so they can distribute the weight in the plane right, you get on and hope the one engine doesn't crap out on you. It is a beautiful flight though.<br><br>We found the people of CR to be very nice and helpful. They have a lot of pride in their country and heritage. It was also very evident that they place a high value on education. I also found CR to be a very clean country, you did not see garbage laying around, nothing like you see in some other countries. Costa Rica is on our list for a return visit some day, probably do the Caribbean side and the Southern end of the country.<br><br>It went by too fast.<br><br>Marc