Laurin, Mike and I decided to do a road trip to Lake Areñal in a mountainous and volcanic region a few hours drive from our marina. Roads in Costa Rica are quite good. We passed through farmland with large crops of sugar cane in bloom. This alternated with the thick foliage of the jungle rain forest. As we climbed, the jungle became tropical and lush. Around the lake were many hotels and restaurants, but they were not busy.

We had rented a cabin above a horse pasture. The front deck afforded a sweeping view of the lake looking northwest. It was really quite spectacular (pictured). We ate at a Soda, the local term for a small restaurant and café, walking distance from our hotel. It was the first place we had been in where the server was not masked. The husband and wife owners appeared delighted to have some business. We had Casado, which means “married” in Spanish. Here it means a plate with your choice of meat and several side dishes.

Although it was raining, sometimes quite hard, we drove to the Mistoso Hanging Bridges Park to walk in the jungle rain forest. Despite the constant dripping on us, we entered the thick green foliage on a very good trail. Beautiful tropical flowers were everywhere, along with unusual looking plants. We crossed many bridges, some of them long suspension bridges that bounced from our movement high above the river. I emerged wet but warm. Hiking in the rain when the temperature is in the 80’s is not that big a problem.

Later we went to a hot springs and sat in the pool. It was not as scenic as the one I visited in El Salvador. It was remarkable that as we drove down the highway, in sight of an active volcano, we saw many hot springs to chose from.