I just want to start off by saying we did not receive any phone calls from security after going to bed last night!

We had an early day with a horseback riding excursion at 7:45 am. We had a moment of sadness when we realized that the landscapers got rid of the ants that were working so hard in front of our room. They were cool and they were just trying to make a living. Hopefully I can put a video of them up on here later.

When we got to Volcano Lodge they gave us a list of excursions we could book through them and I didn’t really have a specific one in mind so I let Kelsey decide. I wasn’t too excited about horseback riding because I’ve never been crazy about riding horses but I thought what the heck lets do it. I’m glad we did because it was a lot of fun and we were able to see a bit of Arenal Volcano National Park.

A driver came to pick us up to take us to the park and there we met our tour guide Minor.  He seemed like a funny guy. There was also a family of four from upstate NY that did the tour with us. We got our helmets and got on our horses. We didn’t receive much guidance or instruction; it was just basically pull the reins to the left or right depending on which way you want to go. My horse’s name was Regalo and he was slow at first! I felt like he was moving at a snail’s pace. Kelsey’s horse was Abuelo and he stayed at the back of the pack it seemed. I cannot remember Dons’ horse’s name!! And it’s killing, I will probably think of it later.

My horse was also very hungry. He kept pulling leaves from the side of the trail any time he could. If we stopped for a second he would start eating and he didn’t like to stop. Later in the trail other horses were also eating but mine was just hangry all the time, kind of like me I guess. Sometimes after mine ate it would go kind of crazy and start running. It was fun but a bit scary because I didn’t want to fall off.

The trail and the views were beautiful. I believe it was a great way to see some of the park. We also got great views of the volcano. It was such a clear, hot day. It was a cool excursion. Here’s some pictures.

We were done with the horseback riding around 10:30 so we went back to the hotel. We had planned on going to some hot springs this afternoon that we heard about but it was so hot! We decided to just relax at our pool and have some appetizers and drinks. It was our last day here to enjoy this place. The pool was great. We had ceviche, nachos, and quesadillas. Of course we had a few beers also. We stayed at the pool for a long time. It was so relaxing. We all got burnt also, even though we were really good about reapplying.

Today was perfect. I don’t think I ever want to leave. We came back to the room around 2 pm and just relaxed, took some naps. I went out in our back yard to explore a bit because there is a small trail back there. The trail was too hard to do in flip flops and sore calves though. I did see some cool stuff like more ants working and a thing that looked like a possum. I also saw one of these beehive looking things. I am not really sure what that is.

I think around 5 we decided we were hungry and wanted to go out for our last night in Arenal. So we went to a place in La Fortuna called Cafe Mediterraneo. It was Italian.  It was a little fancier than anywhere we have eaten yet but hey it was our last night. I had a pepperoni pizza and it was delicious. Kelsey had a pizza also and Don had steak. We had some sangria also. This place was very good. It was very cool looking too. We ate good food, had good drinks, and watched a thunderstorm. Every time we eat I feel like the place is my favorite but this one might be my favorite so far. Everything has been so good! I really never want to leave. I’m in love with the volcano.

We came back to the hotel and we all pretty much fell asleep at 8 pm! We are all so sore and burnt but also relaxed. It’s easy to sleep early here because it gets dark at like 6 pm. I love it here.