Arenal

After Monteverde, we drove to the Arenal region. There we stayed in Mountain Paradise Hotel, which looks directly onto the volcano from a green hillside. And because the hotel is newly opened, we had its facilities and swimming pool all to ourselves.

Activities while in the area included swimming in the natural hot springs, whitewater rafting on the Rio Sarapiqui, a canopy tour at the Arenal Hanging Gardens, and viewing lava flows on the volcano by night. It was nice just to relax with my family by the pool, read a book in the sunshine, eat traditional Costa Rican cuisine, and play cards with my sister.

The best feature of our time there, however, was the stunning view of the volcano. Volcan Arenal is perfectly conical and the most active volcano in the Western Hemisphere. From the doorway to our bungalow, we could look out directly at this looming monster, constantly emitting large puffs into the air like a chain smoker.