Hotel Aserradero Liberia

... of what traveling via long distance bus in Central America is like...<br><br>We boarded around 6 am Monday morning in Liberia, right in front of the McDonald's, across from the Papa Johns and BK (for real!). It was a nice bus, a luxury bus if you will, especially in comparison to previous buses we had ridden on, aka public transportation. It was pretty full, but luckily we got 2 seats together. The A/C was on full blast, but the bus attendant made sure everyone ...

... in a rocking chair right there in the middle of the sidewalk. She taught us the word for rainbow...ARCOARIS (not sure if thats how its spelled, but thats how it sounds.) So....While we were in town with our icecream cones, a group of young adults (maybe 17 or 18 yrs old)<br>came walking by dressed up in colorful costumes ...

... we decided to follow some directions Ingrid and Gerard had given us to a river nearby El Sol Verde. We headed off to the river not realizing that we would have a guide. Kaka, the dog, knew exactly where we were going and walked us all away to the river. The river was a rich blue and was being enjoyed by a few of the local families. They were quick to show us the best places to dive in the water and also a natural waterslide. Kaka the dog ...

After a 4 hour flight, we arrived at the Liberia International Airport. Wow!!! It is not very big. Really just one larger room / terminal. Customs was easy and our driver Oscar was waiting for us. It all went so smoothly we couldn't believe it. Everybody was tired, but we faced a 3+ hour drive to Arenal. It was great to ...

... night to Rincon de la vieja lodge (as we didn´t know where to go we just said the taxi dirver he should go where he thought it was better, as the park has different entries and hostels, far away one from the other). When we came there we told the two men in the reception that we had no money (it was true, we had something like 40 dollars and there was no bank there). They told us the double room was 67 dollars. We asked them if we could sleep on the floor somewhere ...

... These he gave to someone else who then said he needed $20 to process them. He came back fairly quickly with the passports stamped. It was then time for a police check, this did not happen. We were then told we needed to get road insurance. We already have insurance cover for Costa Rica so Mike got out the papers and showed them but these were not accepted, we even went to the Customs Officer himself who stated we had to have Costa Rican insurance or we could not get ...

... Heck, we don't even know if his name is George, but the name just felt right. We were also entertained by this beautiful blue bird that kept dive bombing the breakfast tables for pieces of fruit. While we watched, he pilfered several large hunks of watermelon and pineapple. After hanging out at the pool we went to town to explore and for some groceries. We promptly forgot about exploring and the groceries when ...

... the side of the mountain to get to the bottom of the waterfall, but certainly a worthwhile hike. The waterfall itself is fed from the La Fortuna river, and falls about 700m to reach the bottom. Once at the bottom, we decided to walk through the rocks to the other side of the pool formed by the waterfall. Well, that was a mistake! I (Babak) slipped, fell into the water, and my sunglasses flew out ...

... sand Playa Conchal is a 20 min walk down the beach (or a 5 min drive, but you have to drive ON the beach). They rent snorkel equiptment on the beach and sell ceviche. Playa Flamingo is a 10 min drive, but I am not so into all the development going on there (the expensive condos, etc. overlooking the water). I also drove to the north on some crazy muddy hills where there are no people or signs, and many forks in the road so ...

... right?? Anyway, came back from the tour at 12 and waited in a bright street corner til 3, then wearily made our way towards the bus station. I snuck into the nearby bar to use their bathroom before our 7 hour trip to San Jose the capital. Everyone in there were off their heads on more than alcohol. I wasn`t sorry to be leaving Tamarindo. A great place to come with a crowd on a package holiday with a lot of mulah. Lots to do but ******* the pockets.