As I mentioned previously, Costa Rica Vacations and our rep there, Marco Madrigal, took excellent care of us. Our driver, Hjalmar, arrived a good 10 minutes early and was helping to transfer our bags as we came out of breakfast. We hopped right in our private "microbus" as they describe it, and Hjalmar had some water and snacks for us during the 3 1/2 hour transfer. Of course we did make a stop along the way, ironically enough, in a little town called Los Angeles! We also passed the Cacique plant along the way. Cacique is Costa Rica's national liquor, made from distilled sugar cane. We had to get a bottle during our trip, of course, and found that Cacique and OJ is just fantastic!
Hjalmar also had various maps and guides for us to check out during the ride, and was quick to point out many of the different indigenous plants and animals we encountered along the road on our trip, including Teak, pineapple, palm, coffee, mango, sugarcane, and papaya plantations, and even an iguana on the side of the road. He also gave us many recommendations on things to do and see while in the La Fortuna area. We had already planned a zip-lining activity, but had another 2 days open, so it was great to get some ideas from someone who knew the area well.
When we arrived at the Arenal Kioro, our hotel for the next 3 nights, we were greeted with a welcome cerveza Imperial, and a concierge welcome. We took a tour of the grounds before heading to our room, and were taken aback at the botanical garden, stunning views of the volcano and the rain forest, the hot springs, and the overcoming tranquility of the place.
So after getting settled in our room complete with insane view and hot tub, we sprang for the hot springs, and even saw an Aguti on the way back to our hotel room. That night there was a power outage at the hotel while we were at the pool bar, and it was eerie how dark it was out in the jungle with no electricity, even for just 15 seconds!
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