Before we leave the Magic Mountain Resort, I wanted to share the a photo that a member of our tour took of Arenal Volcano last night. We all had views of the volcano, but Puneet had a fabulous view, uninterrupted by trees. There was even more cloud cover at the top of the volcano this morning when we were pulling away.
We drove for about 40 minutes where we stopped at a wonderful excursion called Mistico Park. It perhaps is more commonly known as the hanging bridges.
We were in a rainforest with something to see every direction!
These were some of the views we had from the hanging bridges!
And here we are on a hanging bridge!
This was our group posing for the whole group of 38 posing for a photo at the end of the walk, with Arenal Volcano in the background.
Our lunch view!
We were treated to a welcome dance!
Our guide Laura told us we had a selection of a 2 mile walk, a 1 mile walk, a 15 minute walk or a seat in the coffee shop! J and I were in the largest group of 22 that walked 2 miles (3.2 km). We had a guide Edgar who pointed out wildlife for us to enjoy.
We were in a rainforest with something to see every direction!
These were some of the views we had from the hanging bridges!
And here we are on a hanging bridge!
Excursions like this are always a good opportunity to meet other people on the tour and hear more of their life stories! And this 2 hour walk was hot!! I was dripping with sweat between the 28 C temperature and the high humidity!
This was our group posing for the whole group of 38 posing for a photo at the end of the walk, with Arenal Volcano in the background.
We boarded the bus and started driving away from the northern province of Alajuela heading towards the Western province of Guanacaste.
We drove for two hours (whereby I was tired enough to sleep but the roads are so curvy that a person kind of lurches in their seat). We then stopped for lunch in a private dairy farm. Caravan helped support this family by building a facility overlooking the lowlands. This family is guaranteed business to provide lunch as Caravan brings in bus tours every day from mid December to late April. They had a souvenirs shop with well priced souvenirs too.
Our lunch view!
You might see large windmills in the background. 12% of electricity in Costa Rica comes from wind power. 76% comes from hydroelectricity, 10% comes from geothermal and 2% comes from solar.
After lunch we drove another couple of hours to a little pottery stop. We had a demonstration of traditionally made pottery using clay and sand and natural dyes. There was also the option to eat simple ice cream for $1. This was much appreciated as I realized I was dehydrated today after the hike in the heat.
We then boarded the bus for our last drive of the day to Barcela Tambor on the Pacific Coast. We learned that this resort is all inclusive so people can drink alcohol for free as it is included in the cost of the room, paid for by Caravan.
We were greeted by the team with a fruit drink. Something they do well in Costa Rica is to have fruit juice prepared to welcome you, but with the option to add in alcohol. That is much smarter than premixing everything with alcohol!
We were treated to a welcome dance!
It took us a while to find our rooms - this is a huge hotel. There are a number of buildings and we are the one furthest away from the centre. But rooms have air conditioning and are very comfortable.
After a great meal of Italian food served at La Tratoria, we headed back to our room.
Tomorrow we meet the group for a walking tour on the property!
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