Costa Rica-Part 2
As we kept driving we came to an area called San Carlos, in the northern zone of the country, where cool mountains and warm plains full of ranches and farms combine with lush natural beauty and prosperous socio-economic development brought mainly by tourism. The main attraction in this county is without a doubt Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica’s most spectacular volcano and one of the most impressive active volcanoes in the world and the resort hotel we stayed at is located less than 30 minutes from the volcano and its lake. The resort we stayed at was beautiful. Our room faced the river and the grounds of the resort were gorgeous. There was a butterfly garden, tennis courts, and swimming pool on the property. Every morning during breakfast, fruit was hung up in the trees surrounding the dining area. All kinds of colorful birds flocked to eat the fruit; several types of tanagers, toucans, orioles and others whose name I don’t know. There were also iguanas hanging around in the trees.
After breakfast the next morning, we headed off to our Cano Negro Wildlife Preserve boat tour. On the way we stopped on a bridge over a river and looked in the trees and there were iguanas everywhere on the trees and on the ground. This is one of the reasons I think it is so specail to have a guide. We would have just driven right over the bridge and never seen all of the hundreds of iguanas. Then we passed farms and learned that pineapple is now second only to coffee in Costa Rica production. We also learned that Starbucks is Costa Rica’s #1 purchaser of their coffee.
On our river boat tour we saw more beautiful birds, and a lizard (basilisk) that could walk on water. There were caimans (small crocodiles) and birds, that when they were in the water, looked like snakes. 
Spider monkeys and howler monkeys and my favorite, white faced monkeys, were up in the trees watching us watch them. Once we drove the boat right up next to a caiman sunning himself. I was in the process of taking his picture when the caiman flopped all around and dove into the water. I screamed and Jose said that he can’t jump into the boat, but they all had a good laugh at my expense. We also saw some sleuths and a variety of butterflies.
After our river trip we toured a resort that is only a few years old and the entire back of the resort faces the Arenal Volcano. All of the rooms have a panoramic view of the volcano which you could also see from the huge Jacuzzi. There is also complimentary internet in the lobby. We dined in their Orquideas Restaurant and had an exquisite meal while we watched nature put on a fireworks show provided by the volcano. I could have sat there all night watching and waiting for the next set of fireworks displayed each time the volcano sputtered. It was truly the most spectacular site I have ever seen. There is more to come of this beautiful country of Costa Rica…..
