Saturday morning Alex and I started the day with a homemade breakfast at our hotel. For just USD$6 we had juice, coffee, a full plate of fresh fruit and an entrée of our choice: omelette con todo y chile was our favorite. Breakfast dishes are also almost always served with rice, beans and fried plantains (like the majority of Tican meals). Most impressive to me was that my husband - lover of vegetables and hater of fruit - was willing to eat some of the fresh mango and banana we were served.
How can you say no to that?
After finishing a leisurely breakfast and packing our backpack for the day we caught a cab from our hotel to Arenal Volcano National Park. Visitors are not allowed to hike the volcano as it is still active but there are a handful of trails throughout the park. We selected a hike expected to take a little over 2 hours and set off to explore.
Me in front of Lake Arenal before we left for our hike.
View of the volcano from "ground level."
The first half of the hike was moderately difficult, weaving in and out of the jungle with some pretty steep climbs. The guides had suggested we bring walking sticks, which felt a bit strange but proved to be a great balancing aid. The hot temperatures and humidity made for a fairly sweaty hike, but the views and scenery were totally worth it.
View from the highest overlook on the trail.
Lake Arenal from the overlook.
Alex and I in front of Lake Arenal at the overlook spot.
Alex in the bamboo forest along the trail.
After about two hours of hiking we made it back to our starting point and found that our cab driver was patiently waiting to take us back to the hotel. We debated cleaning up before heading into town, but figured the 1.5 mile walk would undo any benefit gained from a shower (I am also preparing for the 5 straight days of not showering during our Machu Picchu climb). So we headed directly to a crowded restaurant / bar called Lava Lounge to watch the Ticos in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Lava Lounge. These tables did not have a view of the TV.
After more than a few "typico" meals, we were pretty happy to discover that Lava Lounge had a very diverse menu - my eyes went immediately to the giant chicken nachos, which we washed down with multiple Imperials. Another surprise on the menu was a BBC - we are so used to only ordering these while in Montauk at Cyril's that we didn't realize the drink was globally recognized!
Can't go wrong with BBCs and nachos.
We had a great time watching the game and cheering along with the local crowd, even through the Tico's were dealt a devastating 4-3 loss in the final shootout. We ended the evening with a walk back to our hotel, some time in the pool and sandwiches in our hotel room before going to bed early (it gets dark here at 6pm and light at 5am so our schedules have pretty much resembled the early bird special crowd).