Here is the view of Arenal Volcano from our hotel. Do not be alarmed that we are too close. I bought the Volcano Insurance, so if it erupts, we will be covered...
We had a most interesting drive from San Jose to the hotel. It took about 2.5 hours to travel 90 miles. The first portion of the trip was on a highway. The second portion was on a rather crooked, sometimes one lane, road through the mountains. I'm not sure how anyone could travel from San Jose to Arenal without a GPS, that thing paid for itself today. We stopped a few times along the way and took some photos, check them out:
Our hotel is located in one of the greatest tropical gardens I could imagine. Everything is well tended and there are hundreds of trees/bushes that I've never seen before. We arrived here about 1 hour before our afternoon activity was scheduled to leave, giving us just enough time to unpack, change clothes, etc. before heading out to go ziplining.
The tour guides were excellent. They played multiple practical jokes on me, which I liked, and made Taylor feel quite comfortable. He road the first several lines tandem with the guide. Finally, on the last line, Taylor was comfortable enough to go by himself. It was the longest, and perhaps fastest line of the day. Sadly, Taylor's body weight wasn't quite enough to push him to the end, but like a trooper, he rembered his training and pulled himself along the line the last 50 feet until he reached the platform.
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Sometimes I see blogs that seemlessly embed photos on the right and left side of the page without missing a beat. I've tried it before and always end up with a mess. I've tried it again, and wish I wouldn't have. Starting tomorrow the Razor will once again be a "centered photos only" blog.
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My softball team lost both games last night. Between my vacation and Michael Smith's injury, they only had 9 players, and were missing the 2 best outfielders. So 2nd place...
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In addition to the zipline, there was also a Tarzan Swing as part of our tour. The cable is probably 100 feet long, you attach to it, and swing out over the jungle. Taylor like it so much he did it twice. In fact, I think it was the success of the swing that convinced him to ride a zipline by himself.
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Just realized that while screwing around with getting those left/right pictures aligned, I didn't tell you much about my zipline experience. Highly recommend. You wear a harness, clip to the cable, and have a leather glove that you can use for a break. It's best to not use the break until you are very close to the landing platform. The first couple lines we zipped were over an open area, but eventually we got into the jungle. I loved flying through there, having leaves and vines slap your feet, and enjoying the view.
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The Internet access is good here, but limited to the lodge portion of the hotel grounds. Being unable to Blog/text from the comfort of my room requires that I end here. Oh yeah, the temperature was nice today, but HUMID!
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