Costa Rica Day 3: Zip Lining on NYE

New Year's eve stated early with a trip to the Arenal Park Ecoglide zip-lining playground, complete with Tarzan swing, and complimentary Imperial (or beverage of choice) when you're done.  Other than almost taking one of the Ticos off the Tarzan Swing ledge, it went without incident and was completely exhilarating.  It did rain on us through a few of the cables, but that's how it goes when you're in the jungle!  Our lead guide, Enrique, was great with the whole group and it was hilarious to hear a Tico humming to some LMFAO!


         

         


We grabbed lunch by the pool back at the Kioro, and noticed that though the hotel was full, it always seemed empty and secluded.  There was probably one other table while we got lunch, leaving us feeling like we had a VIP rain forest experience that was just for us!

We took a cab over to La Fortuna-- about a $15 (7500 colones) ride from the hotel.  We strolled the downtown area, through the central park and checked out the tiendas, hit up the grocery store to buy our Cacique, and had dinner at the Lava Lounge. It was here that we noticed that every storefront and restaurant seemed to be open-air, which we found to be nice and refreshing.  The rain comes down pretty straight and for only a few minutes, so it wasn't as though the storefronts were in danger of getting wet as well.

Our hotel threw a New Year's Eve Party, complete with DJ, laser show, fireworks, and traditional New Year's grapes at midnight.  They definitely knew how to make a memorable fiesta!


                            
                               

                                           

Costa Rica Day 2: Traveling to Arenal Kioro in La Fortuna

Day 2 of our trip began with our included breakfast at the Real Intercontinental, a quick walk around the grounds to take in the views, and then we were off to La Fortuna.

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!