Waterfall rappelling through rainforest canyons

I awoke this morning to a beautiful view of the volcano straight through the glass doors at the foot of my bed. We are all in love with the Arenal Nayara Hotel. The grounds are gorgeous and each room is equal to a 5* property at much better rates. We have a fabulous balcony with a jacuzz tub and hammock that looks directly toward the volcano. As you may have guessed, the volcano is the focal point of the Arenal region. We have been incredibly blessed as the view of the entire volcano has been totally visible both days. Many times visitors never see it completely, especially during the green season

Tana and I were picked up at 7:15 this morning for one the greatest adventures we've ever had. We took the Pure Trek Canyoning adventure in which we were guided through a slot canyon and then rappelled down a series of waterfalls with treks through incredible rainforest canyons in between. Of the eight of us on the tour, half were on their honeymoon and no one (but us!) was over 30. One of our fellow rappellers who had just gotten married last week in Malibu was Ted King who had been on General Hospiral for 4 yrs. We were outfitted in very tight harnesses, helmets and heavy-duty gloves and driven about 30 min) again up a VERY bumpy hill to the start of our adventure. Our guides then gave their very nervous clients detailed safety instruction about how to rappell down the five waterfalls. Basically, we jumped off a platform, facing the waterfall and rock wall and, using our 2 hands, controlled our speed and direction with the ropes attached to our harnesses.

Words cannot adequately express how afraid we were at the beginning and how proud we were of our accomplishments at the end. Would we do it again -- definitely!
Following the tour we were loaded back into the truck and hauled down the mountain to a delicious lunch of local foods that was prepared for the "survivors!"
Fortunately, we had 2 hours to get cleaned up and then headed off to a well-known resort here, Tabacon Hot Springs Resort, for a site inspection and then on to the local village, La Fortuna, for shopping.

Just as we returned to our hotel for dinner the bottom fell out of the sky. You wouldn't believe how hard it can rain here -- but it is the rainforest!

Tomorrow is my last full day in Costa Rica. We will leave the Arenal region and drive about 2 hrs to the cloud forest area where we will be staying at El Silencio.
Lucky Tana gets to stay another night and will be at one of my favorite properties near San Jose, Finca Rosa Blanca.

Hope to send a last email from El Silencio. If not, I'll be home Monday night.
Linda