Horseback Riding with Alberto's Horses

Next was the highlight of the day - horseback riding with Alberto's Horses to the La Fortuna waterfall and back.  This was my first time riding horses and it was a wonderful experience.  I was a little nervous at first but the horses were very well trained and knew their way and were very easy to control.  The ride was great.  The views along the way were beautiful. The waterfall was fabulous.  Swimming in the lake in front of the waterfall was invigorating and refreshing.  It was probably 65F which isn't that cold for someone from the Northeast.  The climb back up after the waterfall was a bit annoying but not so bad (600m).  The ride back was fabulous as now I had gotten to know my horse. On the way our guide (Alberto's son) found a poisonous frog to show us - he said it was call blue jeans for its blue legs. That was super cool. This was a great tour and I highly recommend it. It was just so much fun and great for beginners.

view of my horse from my saddle

La Fortuna waterfall

poisonous frog

To end the day, we went to Titoku hot springs - a hot spring that's associated with our hotel and hence free for us.  It was just the perfect ending to the day to relax in the springs after our hiking and horseback riding.

Dinner was at Don Rufino which was good but not excellent.  They did have a watermelon smoothie that really hit the spot after the day of activities.  The gazpacho was great but the Panchetta e mele wasn't very inspiring.

towel howler monkey :)

Hiking Arenal Volcano

I walked around the hotel grounds this morning before breakfast.  The area is beautiful and very well kept.  It's really a great place to stay. In addition to the incredible view from our room, the area around it is super serene and beautiful.

After a great breakfast at our hotel, we went to the Arenal Volcano park.  It amazes me how much privately owned land there is near national parks as there are always people selling tickets to hiking trails and such near parks in Costa Rica because those trails are privately owned.  Of course, the national park has tickets too.  It's surely a very lucrative tourism industry.

We hiked the Sendero Las Coladas which led to this great viewpoint where the lava flow of 1993 was.  It offered an excellent view of the eruption side of the volcano as well as Lake Arenal.

Along the hike we saw a green and red parrot, some black birds with yellow wings, and a white nosed coati. The hike was great, not too strenuous and well shaded.  We saw some really cool trees and even swung from a sturdy vine.

Dinner at Arenal Kioro

After relaxing in the on-site hot springs at our hotel, we had dinner at the hotel.  The food was good but not great.  Highlights were cream of palm soup and shrimp wrapped in trout.

Arrival in Costa Rica

The flight was short and uneventful.

We grabbed some food near the airport and drove to Arenal. There were some great views of the countryside along the way and done cute cows and horses and lots of ferral dogs that tried to get hit along the way.

As we got closer and closer to Arenal, the landscape became more and more impressive, especially when started to see Arenal Volcano in the distance. As we got closer, it became more majestic and more and more enveloped in the clouds.  The highlight however was getting to our hotel - Arenal Kioro Suites and Spa.  The entrance was quite grand and lined with beautiful flowers. The hotel is perched against a beautiful panorama of the volcano and offered incredible views throughout with floor to ceiling windows, including in our suite.  We caught beautiful views of the sun setting against the background of the volcano. We took a walk around the grounds and visited the hot springs (which were unfortunately only warm today).