We went on a tractor to the volcano park. The guides
put harness on all of us – we were about 12 of us in the group. The guides went
over safety and technique. We were supposed to go one by one and not interfere
with other person’s zip lining! It was a well oiled machine. We started going one
by one on the platforms. There was one person to send us off and one to receive
us. The guides would then go ahead of us to the next one and so on. So went 9
platforms and 14 cable lines. It was so much fun! Going over all the forest,
seeing the river and Arenal volcano on the side. There were two kinds of zip lining
techniques – one with the hand on the line and one where you just hang - I liked the one with the hand on the line – little
more control. The guides were fantastic in their control and management and
safety.
The last thing was rappel. This is going straight
down on the rope while using your feet to push against the wall/rock. This was
about 45 m in height. The view was fantastic from this height. The river was
coming from the falls. I was scared of doing it but after Bhaiya and Sarvesh, I was
not going to be left out. I totally enjoyed it! And then I had to take the
stairs to the top to the tractor. Oh boy! I can feel the burning in my thighs
now from yesterday.
The tour company took us to a small tour of the
Maleku Indian tribe. It was a little different one but same deal. I still did
not buy anything.
Came back to the tour office. We found out that
we could go to the hot pool in the hotel across the street (Randall never told
us about this). None of us had our swim gear, but we did go across to the
hotel. It turned out be just a swimming pool (artificially heated). The resort
was beautiful and landscaping was great. There were cottages with car parking
facility. Maybe people stay longer? The view of Arenal volcano was magnificent from
there.
We came back and did some grocery shopping from
the store next door, some chips, cake and drinks. The tour company found us a
van to take us back to our hotel. We just had enough time to check out and eat
some mathri etc before our transport arrived to take us to Manuel Antonio.
The drive to Manuel was over 5 hrs and Jorge was
our driver. He did not let anyone sit in
the front seat, not fair! We three had to sit in the back when we could have
been more comfortable had one of us sat in the front. The van otherwise was very comfortable and also had
wifi! We took two stops, one at a nice scenic point and the other at a river with
alligators.
The first half of the drive was very much like
when we were driving to Arenal – mountains and farmland. The first stop at the scenic point was just gorgeous.
We stopped for about 15-20 mins there. the restrooms were clean and the gift
shop had nice gifts. I bought a key chain and Viki bought a cap.
The next stop was a river that had many many crocodiles.
We stopped at a shop and walked over to the river. The road was very busy to cross.
The stop was worth it – over 30 crocodiles were lazying around. Very cool! They
were a little more muddy that the alligators of Florida. We did not eat or
drink there. We did not stay too long, very soon we started to see the ocean. Our
third stop turned out to be near the ocean around 5:30 pm at the sunset. It was
just gorgeous to watch.
The entire drive was almost all on a one lane highway
and because of the mountainous road one cannot drive fast. There was also a lot
of traffic. So I think the drive took us an hour more than usual.
Our last stop was at Mandarin hotel at around 6
pm. Check in was easy. Our “apartment” was fantastic! It was literally an apartment
– a living room, dining area, kitchen, master bedroom and a bathroom. We could
all comfortably sleep in our own beds. It was beautiful.
We soon left to find a place to eat. It was
selected by Sarvesh. A pizza place, of course – La Lambretta. It was supposed to
have really good views also, but we got there after dark so we could not see any
views (today). It was a 30 min wait, so we went to the grocery store next door,
as usual. One thing I noticed is how much alcohol they sell everywhere.
Came back for the pizza. We ordered 3 large and finished
them all! They were very tasty, think crust, so did not seem heavy. The name La Lambretta brings back memories of our scooter of Dehradun, hence the photo below :-)
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