Selva Verde
Stayed a couple of nights at Selva Verde Lodge which is located in a private wildlife reserve. The lodge is really lovely on the side of the river and constructed on stilts to withstand the wet season flooding. The main purpose of staying here was for the frogs, of which there are plenty. Saw the red eyed tree frog, the strawberry poison dart frog (also known as blue jeans), the green and black poison dart frog, the glass frog, a number of different lizards, huge insects, a skinny snake and a sloth. We have seen sloths a couple of times already but they are sooooo boring I forgot to mention them!! (sorry all you sloth lovers, but come on they don't move for about 20 hours a day!!)
Whilst staying here we also took a trip down the river whitewater rafting. This was great fun but we had a sadistic rafting guide whose only aim was to eject us out of the raft!!! The two boats in front which included children did not have anybody overboard and our ejection from the boat conveniently happened just at the point where the photographer was sat – coincidence? I think not! The photographs are very funny though. Yes those are my legs sticking out of the water and if you look carefully you can see Mark's foot in between my legs as he is already in the water underneath me!
Arenal
After a couple of nights at Selva Verde we headed further inland to the area dominated by the Arenal volcano. The volcano is the perfect volcano shape and is still active. The last big eruption was in 1968 and it continued to spew a small amount of lava up until 2011 when it stopped. Our self catering bungalow was situated up an unmade road over looking the volcano. As you can see from the photos the view from our digs is absolutely stunning. Even better there is a jacuzzi hot tub in the house which also has views over the volcano. Chilled on the first afternoon, just looking at the view! Second morning up early for a mountain bike ride under the volcano and over some of the 1968 lava flow. Great ride although it was a pretty tough couple of hours on very sticky mud. After a fruit picnic we completed the 'lava 1968' hike' which was lovely. Then back to the house to soak our aching muscles in the hot tub. Mark wanted the perfect post mountain bike photo in the tub but put too much bubble bath in!! The bubbles were nearly over flowing so I had to scoop out a mountain of bubbles and put them in the shower before I could even get in the tub!! It was eventually a lovely soak with a wonderful view. Another amazing few days, hope all is good in the UK. We are staying here for 4 nights so this will be continued…..
