Puerto Viejo Day 3

7-9-11

Today was our last day in Puerto Viejo. We were planning to go on a cacao tour near our hotel but when we called to check the farmer said that he was not doing tours today. So with our plans thrown out of whack we decided to go and try the other chocolate tour place. After passing it once we found it by following the official looking blue signs (after we passed them twice). However upon closer inspection we found that it was an expensive tour for what you got in return, you didn’t get to make the chocolate like we would have at the first place. We decided to go back toward our hotel and look for the butterfly garden instead, but after driving up and down the road for times with a map we still couldn’t find it and gave up since we had wasted so much time. To salvage the morning we headed back into Puerto Viejo to sit walk in the tide pools while sipping agua de pipa (coconut water). It was a good way to decompress after the frustration of the morning. When we came back from the beach we packed up the car, said our goodbyes to Sonia and Pepo and headed off for the second leg of our trip. 
We spent most of the day on our drive to Arenal, which was about 5 hours, although a five hour drive in CR does not seem that long (to me at least, Devon would differ I’m sure) there’s always something interesting to see out the window and the radio stations in CR are really good.  However, when we got in to Arenal at 6 we were all ready to be out of the car. We had a little orientation (with fresh juice!) and then headed off to our room. El Silencio is just how we remember it only now they have a few more lodges. We walked around the property a bit, and checked out the hot springs before heading off to dinner in La Fortuna. We went to a local Soda with comida tipica; all got Arroz con Pollo and Devon and I got Bebidas Frescas (a fruit and ice blend) as well, Blackberry and Guyabana. Everything was delicious and just what I’ve been getting used to down here. The other patrons were ticos and they were playing the game between Colombia and CR on the TV. It was a very typical night here in CR. When we got back to the hotel we went to the hot springs for a soak. We met two other groups who are staying here as well (both from the US) and went to bed early relaxed. Tomorrow we are going to go horseback riding to a waterfall, I am so excited!!