Where's Noah when you need an ark???

Just as I finished the last post and walked back to my room, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. It rained all night and was still pouring when we left Harmony House at 8 this morning. It continued to rain for about 4 hours as we drove northeast toward the Arenal region in north central Costa Rica. Don't think I've seen this much rain since one night in the Amazon region of Peru. The potholes were much easier to see as they were all filled with muddy brown water. In spite of the rain, however, the scenery was still beautiful.
Again, Francisco was a superb driver as he managed to pass big trucks the size of our 18 wheelers on 2-lane roads that had no yellow stripe!
After several hours we crossed the bridge over the Tempisque River that was built by the Taiwan gov't to bolster friendship with Costa Rica and in hopes of discouraging their trade with "red" China as it was known then (That didn't work!)
The rain stopped as we reached Lago Arenal. This huge lake takes hours to drive around but again great luck was with us. Rarely is the volcano not covered by clouds (kind of like Mt. McKinley) but today we had an incredibly clear view of this still active volcano. The red lava is only seen at night but during the day you can see the smoke coming from it's molten center. The lake was formed when the volcano erupted violently in 1968, killing dozens of people living in the small village of Arenal. The lake now covers the destroyed village.
We stopped on the dam dividing the lake and made group photos. This is a major road and people had stopped to have a picnic in the middle of the dam -- only in Costa Rica!
We are spending 2 nights at a new property in the area, Arenal Nosara. It's really lovely and very different from our last 2 hotels. From our room, there is a balcony with a jacuzzi tub and a beautiful view of the volcano.
After a quick, but delicious lunch, Francisco whisked us off to The Springs. This new resort is being developed by the owners of Peace Lodge which is one of the most incredible properties in this country. Every client we have ever sent there falls in love with it. I'm not sure I have the ability to adequately describe The Springs other than to see it surpasses Peace Lodge. It is built over several hot springs and has so many different waterfall pools and hot springs sites that I lost count as we wandered through the property. It is still under construction but is open to guests. We did a site inspection and then changed into bathing suits and relaxed in the hot springs while enjoying views of the volcano. There was even a brief eruption of red molten lava. Dinner was delicious on the beautiful open air patio--still in full view of the volcano.
Tomorrow is a new adventure for Tana and I. We are off at 7:15am for a waterfall rappelling adventure. Sure am glad my Medjet coverage is still current.
Details to follow!!!
Linda