This Is The Way Horror Movies Begin…

Beth and I started our adventures in Costa Rica this morning. We set out in our rental car with a map and a lot of trepidation about driving in Costa Rica, the country with the 2nd highest per capita deaths by car accident, and about getting lost in the rainforest. Amazingly, we did really well considering that official sets of directions here include phrases like “turn left after you pass the hardware store and keep going until you reach the dead end with the iron man statue.” Seriously, this kind of thing is printed on brochures in the directions to get to various places!

Along the way we stopped at a souvenir shop/bakery where we purchased a few items and spent some time enjoying the view. Across the street was a man giving his oxen a break. I’m don’t know for sure that the oxen are really working oxen…I think it’s a tourist trap as the man asked for money to have his picture taken.






Our first destination was La Paz Waterfalls. I visited it when I was here in April and knew Beth would enjoy it. We walked through the aviary first, where I got attacked by a African Gray something or other. The bird also stole the button off the top of Beth’s cap. From there it was to the butterfly garden, hummingbird sanctuary, snake pit (ugh!) and frog house. I got some better pictures this time.







I was dreading the 2722 steps but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I did get soaked though since it was drizzling most of the time we were walking the waterfall paths.






When we left La Paz Waterfalls, we headed to our hotel on the Arenal Volcano. It was about a 3 hour trip and went very smoothly considering we didn’t have any written directions, just a map that may or may not be accurate. We only got off track once when we had to circumvent a washed out bridge but when we asked for directions, found we were only a couple of blocks off course. The best part was driving down the 9 km dirt road full of potholes in our little Mitsubishi Lancer. That car will never be the same! We arrived safely to the hotel, had some dinner and gazed at the Arenal Volcano. Then, exhausted and completely wiped out, we called it a night.