We cruised into Tamarindo that afternoon and set out for the beach, which was absolutely incredible, beautiful waves, perfect for surfing, which we all did that day. Surfboards were readily available across the street from the beach and the people there were very helpful. Other than surfing, the next day we went on a beach trip extravaganza, where we went to 6 different beaches in one day, including three to the north in Playa Conchal and two others I forget the name of, then two more to the south in Playa Avenelle and Playa Negra, which had HUGE waves by the way, before getting back to Tamarindo to sit on the beach, enjoy an adult beverage, and watch the sunset.
My favorite trip of the vacation had to be going to Arenal Volcano, which was about a 4 hour drive from Tamarindo. This drive was not very safe either, as the driving there is crazy with people pretty much going whatever speed limit they want, and also passing very frequently even with big semi's and busses on the road. That may explain the highest mortality rate in the world for driving. So we got away from the beach, went into the plains or low country, then went into the mountains until we saw Lake Arenal, which was man made after the last eruption back in 1968. It was a HUGE lake and took us two hours to get around as it had about a million switchbacks and the roads were narrow. We almost ran over a snake on that little journey, and also ran into a pack of lemurs, which was very cool.
We finally drove into a clearing where there was a big bridge and to the left there was an even bigger Volcano, which was Arenal. It happens to be the third most active volcano in the world and was smoking while we got out and snapped some pictures. We drove to a town on the other side of it called La Fortuna, which was quaint and beautiful, and then decided to do some excursions. Of course our group of guys wanted to go ATV'ing, which was soooo sweet as they took us on technical trails and even to a place to do a few jumps where we got 1 to 2 feet off the ground, kinda scary... The guide then took us to a stream crossing and parked on the other side so we could take a break and a swim. The whole excursions lasted nearly 2 hours, then we came back and they served us lunch as well, I would recommend this trip to anyone!
After that, we journeyed to La Fortuna Waterfall to take another swim, then the Hot Springs located around the mountains to soak all of our wounds from ATV'ing and tripping on the rocks near the waterfall. We found a hotel right next to the volcano, which really freaked me out by the way, and then headed to zipline the canopy of a jungle the next morning, which was also an incredible experience. Ok, well I'm tired of typing, there will be more to follow. Hit me up if you are going to CR anytime soon and I will give you plenty of DO's and DON'T's!
