By Robin Collins | No Comments
Last updated: Saturday, August 30, 2008

No alarm clock, hell no clock at all.

The sun beckons once again for me to join her.  But this morning, I must deny her.

I curl up a little longer and snuggle closer to Lee.  So tired after yesterday’s horseback riding and adventures to the water fall with Macarana.  This must be paradises snooze button.

Finally, the birds sing me to enough of an awakening to crawl out of bed.  I breathe in deeply and hear Arenal great me again this morning with her slow rumbing eruption.

Puffs of grey smoke plume around her.
Good morning, Arenal.
She grumbles to me that this day will bring much joy.

I sneak in a couple hours of work…fill some orders, answer some support questions…Tweet a little

Today we meet with Nico Pisani to make final arrangements for the arrival of our fellow TweetFesters.  I couldn’t be more excited to be sharing this exprerience with…well - Anyone!

First this morning, we go to visit Nico’s business partner, Gene.

Gene is building a home a short way from their resort.  And this house is gorgeous!

To drive up, the house does not look like anything special.  But then you follow the porch to the back and…

WOW!

It is a modest 2000 square feet, and the view is - well breathtaking.

Here Arenal towers majestically over Gene’s back yard of luscious plant life.  A babbling and lively creek is only a few steps away through the vegetation.

The home itself is made of insulating concrete.  The outside painted and adorned with leftover stones that were used for the swimming pool, adding gorgeous accents to the rustic setting.

The interiour is still  under construction - but still amazing.

The main entrance is wide open and incredibly inviting as the natural wood encased ceilings tower above.  A 5 foot wide screen tops the wall on both sides and allows the welcomong breeze to sneek in to keep the home nice and cool.

The ceiling is layered with beautiful beams of solid wood harvested from the neighboring forest, giving a warm and inviting feel - despite the concrete walls.

Nico decided to borrow Gene’s truck so he could haul us all around for our last minute preparations for TweetFest.

We climb in, along with Nico’s cool and lovable dogs, Cacique and Romeo.  Nico calls Cacique his overgrown Chihuawa (he’s at least 50 pounds) and Romeo a little crazy (he’s probably 15 pounds and has dual personalities).  One minute Romeo is a loving little pup, the next he’s like the bad guy in the Gremlins.

Both are incredibly adorable.  We all pile into the back of Gene’s small truck.

Then we are off.  We pick up the kids and head to the west side of Arenal to visit her “active” side. This is the side where most of the physical results of her bellowings take flight and reconnect with Mother Earth in the form of humongous glowing boulders.

About 20 minutes into the trip, we turn onto this rustic pot holed filled road.  It feels like any road in very rural America.  Only in America you aren’t getting closer and closer to one of nature’s most powerful forces, Arenal the Volcano.

I could only imagine that the road is in such disrepair because of its proxity to Arenal.  Afterall, why would a struggling government invest money into repairing and upkeeping roads that very likely could be bombarded with hot, glowing boulders from a volcano?

It kind drove home the very accurate reality that we were in the “kill zone” of the volcano.  Both invigorating and scary at the same time.

As we approached the river that runs through the valley beneath Arenal,
it all felt worth it.

Here in front of us was a rolling river of icey blue briliance.  Cold to the touch and energizing as you stepped into its cool folds.

The kids immediately jumped in and started exploring.  All the kids, ours as well as Nico’s puppies.
I walk in ankle deep and feel that this is close enough.  No urge to trudge along and look for whatever it was the kids were looking for.

After several minutes enjoying the rivers cool touch, we climbed back into the truck to make our way to a completely self sufficient and eco friendly resort that lies even closer to the majestic Arenal.

We pull into the parking area and are immediately greeted by the owners son and grandson atop a gorgeous brown mare.

They invite us to partake in their completely ranch provided lunch buffet.

I make a plate of fresh salsa and peppers and fresh baked breads and chicken and pork ribs.
Add in a Bavaria dark beer and I am set.

The owner joins us after a few moments and begins to tell us more about our meal.

The vegetables are all grown on the ranch.
The bread is of course baked in their own stone ovens.
And the pork…well the pork was a result of an unfulfilled destiny.

Apparently within the efforts of animal conservation, this resort is attempting to increase the population of a certain native bore.  This particular bore was unable to fulfill his fatherly duties, if you know what I mean.
So the sterile male was made into lunch.

Primitive - yes.
Delicious - absolutely.

After our delictable and most honored meal, we made the final arrangements for the TweetFest group to revisit this incredible place in three days.

Upon this final bargain, we start our trek back to the east side of Arenal.

We decided to stop at the location of Sunday morning’s adventure - the jungle canopy tour via the steel zip lines.

As we check out the views from this high altitude, the children uncomfortably start to joke about our upcoming zip line adventure.  They seem a little nervous, but I am sure they’ll love it once they get going.

It was about this time that a zip liner came zinging in…screaming like a little girl all the way.  I see the color in my children’s faces slowly drain.

I chuckle a little on the inside as I think of the exhilariation they will enjoy in a couple of days…

After a few more minutes of enjoying the splendid views, we continue our journey back to our cabanna.

A quick shower and a couple of tweets and we are off to our evening adventure…
Baldi Springs.

Baldi is a resort that houses 25+ natural hot springs.  All varying in tempurature and depth.

Let’s just say that after the gazillion steps down to and back from our majestic waterfall and 4 hours on horseback the previous day that this hot springs adventure certainly hit the spot.

We sampled only about a half dozen of the available springs…but this was plenty.
My tired body was relaxed and rejuvinated by the very same waters that were heated by Majestic Arenal.  It was an absolutely sublime experience.

And the most awesome thing is that TweetFest is staying at this resort the last 2 days of the event.  Which means we get to sample the rest of the naturally heated pools with all of our friends.

Honestly, life doesn’t get much better.

And with that, it is off to another night’s restful dreams at the base of Arenal.  I know I will be well rested and ready for another day’s adventures.

PuraVida, Amigos!  Buenos Noches…

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