HANGING BRIDGES AND RESORT

Sunday March 18

We seem to have traveled from one universe to another between this morning and this evening. We left our beautiful (but rainy) Arenal Springs Resort and drove all the way around Arenal Lake. Apparently when the volcano erupted, the town that was there is now under this lake. When the tides recede you can sometimes see the church steeple in the middle of the lake.

This morning was what we had been waiting for: the hanging bridges in the Monteverde Cloud Forest! There were options of shorter to longer hikes, we opted for the long hike of course, which was over 3 kms. We followed a guide who explained the vegetation and pointed out the tarantula hole, otherwise the trail was almost a straightforward loop. We found the path to be difficult because of the uneven paving stones, which were needed to keep us all out of the mud, since it poured rain the whole time we were hiking. There were 6 suspension bridges and many many other bridges, all overlooking the beautiful jungle and a waterfall. The highest bridge took us into the clouds. It was a beautiful hike.

Back into the bus (we finally made it up to the second row today!) and when we crossed the continental divide it was almost magical the way it stopped raining and the hot sun came out. We stopped at a lunch restaurant called The Barn and basked in the sunshine as we ate outside on the terrace and watched a lizard. They sold absolutely beautiful wood products. The wood is protected in Costa Rica, so they are only allowed to claim wood from the forest if the tree has come down for natural reasons.

We stopped in Liberia (where Costa Rica's other airport is) at a supermarket where we found ice cream and lots of people bought booze. We finally made it to the JW Marriott Resort around 4:30. We were assigned a room that was adjoining with a noisy family, so we switched to the top floor. The first room was "ocean view" which really looked over the pool with the ocean in the background. The second room was "garden view" which looked over a wild area with the ocean in the background, which seemed much more natural and much prettier to us.

We explored the beautiful resort which is incredibly convoluted. Very easy to get lost. It seems that the only way to get anywhere is to find your way all the way back to the lobby and then go where you want. The beach is a little rocky before you get to the sandy part, and the ocean is very wavy. I don't think we would go very far to swim.

It sure is pleasant sitting out on our personal verandah writing the blog on our blackberry. No bugs whatsoever. At home we can't do this even in the summertime.
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