Since our meeting ended yesterday, most of my colleague left for home today. Only me, who never wanted to give up any travel opportunity, extended my stay for another day. When discussing the many tour options with the travel agent in my hotel, I was totally attracted by the picture of Arenal volcano (pic on the right) . Arenal Volcano is the most active volcano in Costa Rica, I thought it would be a life experience if I get to see it erupt! According to the brochure: "With nightfall, while having dinner, continue to watch the natural fireworks and the red-hot lava as it flows down the slopes.....". Wow, how spectacular! I decided to pick this whole day tour: Arenal Volcano and Tabacon Hot Springs.
If unfortunately I don't see the volcano erupt or it ends up totally covered by the clouds, I can still get soaked in the hot spring resort at the foot of the volcano. See the picture on the left, isn't it tempting? And the travel agent promised me that the possible afternoon thunder storm will not be a issue in here- it would be even better. The reason is that "the hot spring is so hot that it would be nice to get some cold shower pouring in your head". So I chose this tour over tropical rain forest tram tour even it's far away from my hotel.The tour bus came to pick me up at 9:30 AM. There were totally 13 people in this tour group. 1 couple from Mexico, 1 couple from Texas, 1 couple from Paris, 2 old American ladies, 2 old Spanish gentlemen, and 1 very strangely-mixed couple - an old white guy withhis little Mexican miss. I was the only one who travelled alone. (My girl friend D said she always meet someone when she travelled alone. Why do I never have that kind of romance luck?:P)
Arenal is far away from San Jose- about 3 hrs drive. Like yesterday, we wound up and down in the country road. The country side in Costa Rica is really beautiful, it's green and original. Like that in Taiwan, there are hills scattered in the country, therefore terraced fields are very common. And you see cows and other 
livestock in the farm. Although it's a long ride, I didn't get bored just to watch the rural scenery. The tour guide is biligual in English and Spanish. He introduced the geography in Costa Rica and tried to sell us the aromatherapy treatment or message in the resort. On the way to Arenal, we made couple stops including a souvenir store and a town for canopy. Canopy is another popular activity (like that in picture on the right) in Costa Rica. Since I have a fear of heights, of course this kind of activity is never in my plan.
livestock in the farm. Although it's a long ride, I didn't get bored just to watch the rural scenery. The tour guide is biligual in English and Spanish. He introduced the geography in Costa Rica and tried to sell us the aromatherapy treatment or message in the resort. On the way to Arenal, we made couple stops including a souvenir store and a town for canopy. Canopy is another popular activity (like that in picture on the right) in Costa Rica. Since I have a fear of heights, of course this kind of activity is never in my plan. After lunch, we arrived in Arenal and went to a vista point that is the best for the 
Volcano. Luckily, the clouds cleared up for us, so we did see the top tip of the volcano as the pic on the right. But, the volcano isn't erupting. And I didn't see red lava flow. I was kind of disappointed, but you can never predict the nature. And who knows, maybe we will get lucky later in the day. The guide said that the hot spring resort we are going is so close to the volcano that you can feel the trembling of the volcano if it is active.
Volcano. Luckily, the clouds cleared up for us, so we did see the top tip of the volcano as the pic on the right. But, the volcano isn't erupting. And I didn't see red lava flow. I was kind of disappointed, but you can never predict the nature. And who knows, maybe we will get lucky later in the day. The guide said that the hot spring resort we are going is so close to the volcano that you can feel the trembling of the volcano if it is active. So we set off to the Tabacon hot spring. 
Generally I'm not a big fan of hot spring, I get dizzy easily staying in hot water for long, and I don't like the sulfurous smell common in the hot spring of Taiwan. But when I went into this hot spring resort, my jaw dropped. It is spectacular with facilities comprised of thermo-mineral rivers flowing through exotic tropical gardens, forming waterfalls and river pools! I thought there is only one or maybe two of the thermal pool from the brochure, but no, there are actually 7 pools of them, including a cold water swimming pool and a wet bar, scattered in beautifully landscaped gardens. The whole place is steaming with the vapor from the hot spring. But there is no smell at all. It did creat a feeling of real oasis that you want to wander around all day.
Generally I'm not a big fan of hot spring, I get dizzy easily staying in hot water for long, and I don't like the sulfurous smell common in the hot spring of Taiwan. But when I went into this hot spring resort, my jaw dropped. It is spectacular with facilities comprised of thermo-mineral rivers flowing through exotic tropical gardens, forming waterfalls and river pools! I thought there is only one or maybe two of the thermal pool from the brochure, but no, there are actually 7 pools of them, including a cold water swimming pool and a wet bar, scattered in beautifully landscaped gardens. The whole place is steaming with the vapor from the hot spring. But there is no smell at all. It did creat a feeling of real oasis that you want to wander around all day. The hot springs are 97% rain-based and 3% magma-based. The temperature ranged from 27º C
to 42º C. I stepped into the waterfall one first, enjoyed the hot water tapping on my shoulder and head, and then I soaked into a 40º C pool. After a while, I felt hot and had to get out of the pool to take a rest. Now I understand what the travel agent meant by raining is even better in the hot spring. But how "lucky" I was- it's not raining at that time. I strolled around in the gardens with my towel, and jumped into a pool whenever I felt like it, then got out of the pool whenever I got too red. Then I spotted some people having cold drinks in the hot spring. What a brilliant idea! I went directly to the wet bar to get a smoothie and brought it back with me to the hot spring. Oh, frozen drink in the hot spring!- so like heaven! Now I can stay longer in the hot pool.
to 42º C. I stepped into the waterfall one first, enjoyed the hot water tapping on my shoulder and head, and then I soaked into a 40º C pool. After a while, I felt hot and had to get out of the pool to take a rest. Now I understand what the travel agent meant by raining is even better in the hot spring. But how "lucky" I was- it's not raining at that time. I strolled around in the gardens with my towel, and jumped into a pool whenever I felt like it, then got out of the pool whenever I got too red. Then I spotted some people having cold drinks in the hot spring. What a brilliant idea! I went directly to the wet bar to get a smoothie and brought it back with me to the hot spring. Oh, frozen drink in the hot spring!- so like heaven! Now I can stay longer in the hot pool. After I was tired with the hot spring, I jumped into the cold pool to chill myself down. Then I climbed up to lie in the bench by the pool watching people. I was a little bit tired by the changing water temparature but I was also totally mentally relaxed. This is what is called a vacation! No wonder when I told the secratary in my department that i was going to Costa Rica on a business trip, he said "Business trip my foot!". Haha. Janneh, I udnerstand now you were just so jealous!
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