Saturday was suppose to be spent relaxing in Orlando catching up on some errands before we headed to Costa Rica on Sunday. My son had decided to invite a friend along for the trip , which was better for me and my wife, this way we would not have to entertain him, he would have a friend to help occupy his time while we were in Costa Rica while letting us relax. It makes for traveling with a 15 year old a whole lot easier.

Lake Arenal Costa Rica

Looking at the flights leaving out of Orlando to Costa Rica for Sunday morning, it looked like the flight from Miami to Liberia Costa Rica was wide open, the problem was the flight from Orlando to Miami was a little tight. This always seems to be the problem when traveling with the family and trying to get out of Orlando on standby. So the decision was made to take the last flight out on Saturday night, spend the night in Orlando the catch the flight in the morning from Miami to Liberia.

Sunday’s flight from Miami to Liberia Costa Rica was uneventful, cleared customs and met up with our driver, Tony, of Costa Rica Tours by Tony. I don’t rent cars in foreign countries, see my Driving in Foreign Countries Tip. We caught up with Tony on happenings since my last trip to Costa Rica back in March when I last had used Tony’s services.

Heading out of Liberia on the Pan American highway the traffic was light since this was Sunday. With the radio playing the final World Cup Soccer match between Netherlands and Spain for my son and his friend we head for our destination 3 hours away , La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano.

The scenic ride up the foothills was breathtaking, with over head clouds the visibility was still great, you could see for miles in all directions.

Cresting the ridge we were treated to the fantastic view of Lake Arenal, stopping for pictures, you could see from one end of the lake to the other. Tony told us it was 28 km around the lake.
Through winding roads we made our way around the Lake Arenal from the small towns of Tilaran and Nuevo Arenal. Driving along the northern side of the lake we were treated to tempting glimpses of Arenal Volcano as the clouds would clear for a few minutes only to engulf the volcano once again.

Making our way along the base of Arenal Volcano we passed the two main hot springs in the area, Tabacon and Baldi. As we made our way to La Fortuna we also passed what seemed to me many new small hotels and restaurants that have popped up in the last 5 years since my last visit.,  This was my  second time to La Fortuna this was the first for my wife and son. On the recommendation of our driver Tony, we checked out the Hotel Arenal Rossi,. Right on the road from La Fortuna to Arenal Volcano we decided Hotel Arenal Rossi would serve our purpose and be our home for the next 3 nights..

Being the rainy season in Costa Rica, the weather lived up to its legend as we walked the shops around the plaza in the center of La Fortuna, at 4pm the rain just came down, and came down for almost 2 hours. Not a problem, just find a dry spot, we sat in a restaurant off the park and ate had a few drinks and watched the rain come down. No rush, we were in Costa Rica now and it was time to relax. What do the Tico’s say “Pura Vida” “have a good life“.