Off to Arenal!

It was a two-hour bus ride to Arenal.  We had a potty stop about halfway there and got to see some large iguanas sunbathing in the trees.  It was so cool.

We arrived at the Arenal National Park and started our hike up to the volcano.  It was about 3K on a path through varying vegetation, which Tony explained beautifully.  The kids had their journals and studied why the plants change at different points on a volcano.  Abe, World Strides Program Leader in Training, showed us a termite nest and explained how termites are high in protein and taste like peanuts.  He proceeded to put on on his tongue and eat it.  Can you believe the students wanted to try one?  It was like an episode of Survivor right in front of me.  Nearly all of them put a little termite on their tongue, had a friend take a picture and then they ate it.  Nobody said it tasted like peanuts.  They said it tasted like nothing.

Towards the top there is a lava field that we hike.  This is a challenge because they are a bunch of rocks and boulders, but the view is incredible!  That's the reward of hiking to the top, right?  The strangest part for me was actually HEARING the loud grumble of the volcano and seeing rocks and dust tumble down the side.  Wow!  This is an active volcano!

After we hiked back down Abe showed us a small snake curled up on a tree.  It was poisonous so they made sure nobody got too close.  Again, the kids just loved it.  

After our volcano hike we went to the Baldi Hot Springs.  Or, maybe it was heaven?  We ate a delicious lunch there (remember the strawberries and the chocolate fountain?) then changed into our swimsuits.  (Note:  you can rent a locker for $5.) This place was beautiful with 25 different pools around with varying temperatures.  One even had a couple of water slides.  It was 2 hours of pure relaxation.

After that we had about 30 minutes to clean up in our beautiful,  air-conditioned hotel room before loading the bus again to walk around town before dinner.  This tourist town is called La Fortuna and we really enjoyed a little time to walk around and shop a little.

Dinner was at the hotel and then we sat out on the balcony, staring at the volcano hoping to see a little eruption.  Nada.