Our last night was spent in the town of La Fortuna ... the Tabacon buffet dinner was much more scrumptious..but ofcourse @ $ 45us pp charge, we decided once was enough & ventured into town for our second night. La Fortuna is also a tourist town - so the prices were certainly elevated ( eg. a swiss chalet type chicken dinner was decidedly 2x more $). All inclusive is the way to go. Primary industry in terms of revenue now is tourism. Other major exports are microchips due to abundance of silica(Intel) Secondary is agriculture (pineapple, coffee & bananas)
Main pool with swim up bar and water slide & a view of arenal volcano
A lush oasis with tropical gardens, oriental bridges, zen statues & day pods in secluded hotel guests only section..all made for a meditative and spiritual retreat ... a nice end to our Costa Rica trip.
Left pic - a quick escaping gecko stole a drink umbrella in its teeth :#
Si, la pura vida..& feeling blessed
There are numerous authentic natural hot spring pools & cascading waterfalls in the grand Tabacon complex. It's the life work of architect and owner Jaime Mikowski. This carbon-neutral resort property is extensive (350 hectares) of rainforest. The thermal springs consist of 97% rain based and 3% magna based flows entering through fissures. There are 5 thermal surfaces feeding the multi-directional flows, filling the volcano rock bottom pools with mineral rich warmth ( hint: bring watershoes)
Soothingtired muscles from the past week of climbs, hikes, ziplines.
Our very last stop in Costa Ricca - 2 days in the Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort to get some pampering in the natural mineral hot springs
Final night for dinner @ Casa Luna & hot tubbing
Shorter hike this time to another 'Catarata' waterfall
Next day's excursion - Alina suggested a short taxi ride to the Arenal Observatory and Lodge where we got in just in time for a nice breakfast by the panoramic dining room & patio before taking in the Saino (Peccary) Trail (~ 45 min paved)
Wow, venomous jumping pit viper casually lounging by the wall.
Rightpic - toucans feeding on fruits
Hiking through a couple of hanging bridges and trails for about 15 mins, passing thru a corner bubbling with thermal hot springs with a strong sulphur smell, to arrive in Laguna Azul. Legends from the ticos has it that when our creator was done painting the sky he washed his brush in this river and thus it now bear the same color.
Loved these 'indiana jones' bridge crossings
Before getting to village of Rio Celeste, we can already detect the sky blue color of the Celeste river winding its way through the park. Also observed the Cecropoa or Acacia trees (lower right) which we learned about in Tortugero. We were warned not to approach these trees as they are usually swarming with red ants that act as protector for the tree. .It's yet another example of symbiosis as the plants provide food & lodging for the ants who return the favor by protecting plants against herbivores or growth of invasive harmful pathogens on its leaves 
We managed to luckily pick the clearest day of all during our stay near La Fortuna Casa Luna for the Rio Celeste trip. This hiking excursion involved first travelling via shuttle bus to the Tenorio Park entrance then a 2 mile hike up a sometimes steep, bouldered and tree rooted pathways to the magical blue lagoon. We stopped along the Ecoterra bus route for a group lunch and spotted a toucan in the restaurant gardens by the banana plants (upper right)
Views from the Casa Luna dining room as various small breakfast companions hangout to partake of a morning meal of bananas
We hiked to a lookout point which we surmise must be as high as safely tourists are allowed as this youngest (7000 yrs old) stratovolcano in Costa Ricca is still quite active. It has been observed to be producing lava and pyroclastic flows almost continuously since 1968, the year of the last eruption. Costa rica possesses over 300 volcanos although only 5 are active. There's never snow on any peaks even @ its highest elevation >12,000ft
Some quick thinking w/phone call to Ecoterra guide got us 4 boxed lunches (thanks Sadie! ur best!) to munch on the bus as we made our way to the afternoon hike around the base of the Arenal volcano
Totally drenched but quite refreshed due to attempts to wade over to the opposite banks of the river. I gave up on this as Tom exhorted me to turn back. So, instead of crossing we started to hike up the gazillion steps to catch the Ecoterra bus & meet up for an afternoon excursion
Look back guys.. and you can see the waterfall there!
Below is a view of the longest segment ( 1 km ) atop the tree canopies - the trick is to maintain very slack back hand & just grazing thru the cable in order to keep your momentum without slowing down
Next morning, we're off for an adventure with ropes!
Well, hello neighbors, all settled in? Let's go tryout pools & hottubs
Si, como mi casa por tres dias! Nice digs and a view of the Arenal Volcano from balcony :)
A blue heron crosses our paths rather matter-of-factly
Upon checking in, the Arenal volcano @ 5435 feet was visible from Casa Luna yet its peak was shrouded in white clouds - the locals maintain it is typically thus & not often is the tip visible
Our next destination was Arenal Volcano. Ecoterra transferred us to beautiful Casa Luna hotel & spa which was also the site of the tour operator's main office
On our way out of Tortugero - a croc seemed to bid us farewell ..hasta luego amigo ;)
Took an afternoon excursion to kayak the tributaries of the Tortugero river system
After dusk, the Laguna naturalist guide took us to view their ' agalychnis callidryas' aka red-eyed tree frog- very cute and not poisonous. 
The mix of different heritages in Costa Rica starts with the Inca Melas, spanish, japanese, chinese, & italians. Later on in the trip we were introduced to the maleku village and treated to the chica drink (pineapple corn & sugar cane blend) They doned traditional garb made of vegetabel mastate and displayed their craft of balsa tree masks each with storied symbolisms
Gnarled roots of trees clawing at the river's edge. You can sense that the amaretto waters must be teaming with organic nutrients of buried leaves, plants and insect life... have to confess, I can't now fathom wading in this jungle canal as explorers must have done eras past...
the riverbanks of the Tortugero channels shows the beauty of its untarnished and still natural rawness
we witnessed an egret pausing, pouncing with lightening speed and catch its meal then ingesting it down its long narrow esophagus
A local pointing proudly to us the village weekly sunday night venues of BBQ dinners here, must be a real feast!
First spotting of wildlife (left) the green vine snake is diurnal & mildly venomous. The Capuchin monkey (right)
Time to go for a beach walk about on sand resembling..soft chocolate dough ...or..
black sesame paste..
Haha... Tom trading in golfer's tan for a beach tan!
Flora & Fauna of the richest hues ..even the plant beetle got his camouflage marching orders ..lol
Arriving in La Tortuguero National Park
Is it just me? I kept on seeing all sorts of animalistic faces and profiles enbedded in the logs on the banks of the river (right - inca warrior? ; left - head of lion? )
Roadside nature spotting - our first sloth of Costa Rica 'muy lindo'..
Even more butterflies at roadsides when we got to the boat station @ La Pavona in Cariari - while the tours boats were being loaded with our luggages. It was hard to tear ourselves away from all this vibrancy, just not something we take for granted back home, especially in midst of January.
Here we are again, nice to have nuestros veijos amigos along for this winter getaway trip :)
Taxi dropped us off near the Teatro Nacional by a central square - could see it has a European flavor to it although closed by nightfall when we arrived.
