The drive was a little long, probably around 4 hours since we had to drive all the way around the lake on slow and winding roads. If I had a motorcycle, this would be the place to ride for hours on end. The first row of pictures were taken from an overlook of the lake where we stopped and had a picnic lunch overlooking Lake Arenal. Arenal is the largest lake in Costa Rica and a very pretty area.
After lunch we drove for a little bit until we reached the far end of the lake. You can see Arenal volcano in the distance, which was our ultimate destination. Along the way we saw some wildlife including a pack of Coatis, or as Jonathan called them, Costa Rican raccoons.
Here are some pictures of the property we stayed at in Arenal. There were all sorts of things growing like banana trees, porcupine palm trees, and pineapple plants growing outside our front door. The place we stayed was managed by a local couple Thomas and Hannah, who were originally from the Czech Republic and Washington state. However, I think they managed this place for the owner when he wasn't using it.
The house sat up on a hill in a small town called El Castillo, and had a perfect view of the lake and the Arenal volcano. We sat on the deck or inside the house and watched the sunrise and the volcano smoke consistently coming out of the main top crater. Once we moved in and cleared out all the bugs, it was actually a really nice place to stay. The only downside was that it didn't have air conditioning so it was a little warm at night.
...a few pictures of the main level of the house.
