Costa Rica: El Diria Hotel and Tamarindo Beach

If you are looking for brilliantly hot sunshine, tempered with a breeze and things to do, this is the place. In the morning, the El Diria Hotel provides guests with a complimentary breakfast. We were told it would be continental style. The feast before us included waffles made to order, cereal, omlettes made fresh just the way I like it, a huge spread of pastries, bread and fruit. This is not continental but it is delicious.

After breakfast, we got a prime beach front location. Being on the beach, everyone is going to try and sell you something. From whistles and pottery, to your lounge chairs in the sand, to surf lessons...everything is for sale. You can have a massage on the beach, or play in the sand. Eventually, I was tired of being pestered so I withdrew to the pool and parrot watched instead. They seem to have green parrots here. The kids are being fish in the pool so, a close eye has to be kept on sunscreen. Pure vida as the saying goes.

Lunch today consisted of more homemade sandwiches with the yummy bread. I think that is something we are really missing back home, the access to a good bakery. I tend to go overboard when I find one as I never get it otherwise. Sunflower seed bread...omg.

This afternoon, we drifted back to the clover shaped family pool. It has stools in the water for me as the tiles are blisteringly hot on the feet. There is a swim up bar for those that want it, but I was happy with my water, it's even too hot to drink here at 37 degrees. There are trees for shade and bridges with water spraying out. The pool is also much deeper than the beach side pools so the kids can actually swim. Swim they did, for over four hours, which likely saved them for a terrible burn as they instinctively swam in the shade. Even my sun loving self chose shade over the mid day sun as I was afraid of the burn.

Showered and changed, we opted for a sunset walk along the beach. The sunset was fabulous, and the monkeys nowhere to be seen. The sandflies so were enthusiastic and the pelicans were having a feast. I have to note that you will smell happy smoke wafting across the beach in sections the closer you get to the public side of the beach access points.

Tamarindo is young at hippie/surfer heart. The people here understand the love of surfing and have hostels aplenty. I actually feel odd that we are not hosteling it here.  The locals are on the beach as much as the tourists. There was even a pottery class.  There are a few touristy shops, and lots of tour options to choose from, but in the end, this place is about the waves.


For food, after the walk, we chose wok and box, or something like that for food. It was amazingly tasty and reasonably priced. Of course, we had to stroll back to the gelato shop to sample more of his flavors. Since we now know that he makes it all himself, I want to try cinnamon and baileys mixed together. I had hazelnut and coconut tonight and that is happiness in an ice cream cone.

Sleepy, I am ready for bed. Hopefully, tomorrow is cooler. But only a bit....

Tamarindo on Dwellable

Costa Rica: Baldi hot springs and Los Nenes Restaurante

Macaw on a wire - so excited.

Baldi Hot Springs

The lovely view of Arenal - completely misted in.

Loved these chairs

Waterslides - they were some of the fastest small slides ever!

Lovely view...

The rain was swirling mist as we awoke this morning. It stung our faces as we walked the short distance down the hill towards breakfast. The view of the birds was brilliant, but Arenal volcano was a mist-ical illusion.

Today was a perfect day to go to the hot springs. So, we got our bathing suits and heading down the mountain to the thermal hot springs at Baldi. I have heard that Baldi is where you go with children, while Terracon is where you go to relax with no children. We took the advice and went to Baldi.

You will need $6.00 for a locker and they give you towels for a $10.00 deposit each. They offer you the price with a meal included. I would suggest you don't take that option. We ate our meal at the snack bar and including alcoholic beverages, we spent way less than the $22 per person that they wanted at the gate. Instead, one kid was half price and the entrance was $34 each. The other thing they don't tell you is that you can exchange your towels once during the day. This I would suggest you leave until you are getting changed at the end of the day. Our towels never did dry and I changed ours too early.

This place is incredible. They have water slides and pools of varying temperatures. I would suggest you head straight up to the spa and book evening appointments, or late afternoon. We did that and it worked well. We then started at the top pools and worked our way down the hill, sampling all the pools. By the time we hit the bottom, we were at the snack bar for some of the best pizza. I indulged in  a very yummy crazy monkey too. From there, we were able to go back and find our favorite pools.

My favorite was the hot volcanic steam room and hot pool. The kids liked the water slide pool and the pool that contained a mixture of hot and cold. The water slides are very fast, but they even enjoyed the large bucket that spilled water over their heads. This place is amazing....did I say that already?

The day ended with massages at the spa on site. These were some of the best massages we have had in a long time. The treatment was royal from start to finish and for the children, they were allowed into the private pool area while we finished. The lady doing my massage was exceptional. The pools in their private area are also incredible as you climb stairs into a large deep pool that has a view of the entire space, great for bird watching. The spa gives you soft robes, and you finish with a serving of hot tea and biscuits. Pampering took on a whole new meaning.

The  day ended with more soaking and then driving back into La Fortuna to have another meal at Los Nenes Restaurante. The time we went simpler. Ute the food was still some of the best we have eaten. This restaurant was our eldest child's choice too, that is how good it is.

I forgot to mention that on the drive in we were fortunate enough to find a red macaw preening himself/herself on a telephone wire. That made the daywesome from the get go. We also found two sloths cuddling in the trees. Apparently that is also rare. I have loved it here in the highlands. Tomorrow, we head out for the beach.

Alajuela Province on Dwellable

Costa Rica: Zip Lines, Horses and La Fortuna

After the washing of rain that soaked the mountain last night, we got up to a leisurely start. Breakfast was included at our resort so we made sure to eat plenty, so that lunch could be a snack. The breakfast was delicious with my favorite omlettes made fresh to order. You could see the tropical birds playing in the garden and watch the clouds swirl around the Arenal volcano.

Today, we opted to do the zip lining tour offered through Arenal lodge. They take you straight to the canopy tours. I had thought we were doing 15 lines, but it was only 8. They were very lovely and the sunshine peaking through was delightful. The girls were able to manage the lines on their own, even doing the monkey crawl hand over hand when they didn't make it to the end. They loved it! Watermelon and pineapple greeted us on our return and we quickly sucked back some water before our next adventure.

Next was walking around the corner to the stables where we mounted horses and then climbed the outskirts of the volcano to reach a green lake, and closer views of Arenal. The horses were very frisky so make sure that you know how to trot and post. I have never seen horses that quick to run uphill. The lake views were as magnificent as the volcano.

The tour bus brought us back to the hotel, but after some thought, we opted to drive to La Fortuna for supper. However, it was still too early for supper, so we walked the butterfly garden trail at our resort. It is a one mile trek around the property. We stopped in the garden and then melted our way through the humid gardens and undergrowth. Despite the warnings, we did not see one poisonous snake. That was a relief I might add. After cooling off, we drove down the cobbled track to La Fortuna.

We chose Los Nene for supper after two guides recommended it. It is traditional Costa Rican food.  Quite frankly, why would you eat anywhere else? The specials came lit by fire, and were cooked to perfection. The kids ate spaghetti and were pleased with that. The specials were fish and steak and you can't watch those platters coming out of the kitchen without wanting one. Despite being ridiculously full, the girls wanted ice cream so we wandered up the street to Pops. Pops is a ice cream chain and it was delicious once we got there.

We did get distracted on the way by an artist shop. Everything in the store was locally made by a Costa Rican artist. Since there were still some gifts to buy, we stocked up. Now that we had parcels to carry, now it was time to eat coconut and chocolate brownie ice cream. Yummy. We have tired kids who are insisting they aren't. It makes for yet another great day in paradise.

Note: tours were booked through jacamar naturalist tours. You may do better booking in La Fortuna.

Miss K's first zip lining adventure - she was a pro from the get go.

The leader was as camera happy as me!

Butterfly Garden

The road less traveled aka the path through the woods behind our hotel room. Note, there was a poisonous snake warning in effect at all times and I still wandered the trails with the family. Crazy.

La Fortuna on Dwellable

Costa Rica: Relaxation and Driving to Arenal

While Costa Rica has a lot of wonderful things to do, sometimes it is equally good to take a day to do nothing. Well, to be honest, it wasn't nothing but it was incredible. On Saturday, we opted to spend time with some very special people who invited us out to the countryside on the outskirts of Santa Rita. This was very near where the bird watching tour was, so it was hot, sunny and dry. After the soaking we had experienced, we welcomed the change.

This was a day of  barbecuing, good conversation and good wine. It was camping with the luxury of a pool, bathrooms and outdoor kitchen. The children were in the water, hanging from the zip line and generally relaxing.  I was thrilled to see a green parrot flying in the trees. We had a wonderful hospitable day, and we were sorry to have to go back and pack.

Now, hard shell suitcases are the new in thing, so I had acquired a new set for Christmas. These suitcases are not forgiving if you like to buy souvenirs. It took me two hours to try and fit everything back in. So far, the handle has broken off, the zipper protested and generally,I miss my old suitcase. For the record, my next suitcase will be a backpack, soft sided.

In the morning, it was time to check out of The Villas Palmas. Our three bedroom apartment was wonderful, but I have to say, I don't miss the ants that paraded everywhere. It was very safe and very secure, being in a neighborhood that felt homey, even after dark.

Now this looked like a promising way to travel

Living on the hillside

The views are incredible

Behind trucks, driving is slow and steady

Bridges only fit one car, and this is a highway

Arenal in the distance

On departure, we drove through the exceptionally twisty roads to Arenal Volcano. We took the advice of the consulate seriously and didn't stop as theft is a real issue here. The drive goes up river valleys, around mountains and through gorgeous villages. However, do take a motion sickness tablet if you even think it might be a problem. My youngest had us guessing a few times. As you drive, the forest becomes green and lush. We  had a picnic lunch in the car, which was good as the drive took four hours.

Our destination was Arenal lodge. It is past the dam and up a very adventurous rutted track. The views from here were incredible. Today was a day where the volcano was bathed in sunlight. The weather was warm we opted to splash in the chilled pool water and soak in the jacuzzi that feasts the eyes on an exceptional landscape. There are amazing birds flitted in the garden and horses in the lower pastures. We took tons of photos as we were warned that the weather here is very unpredictable.

Everything seems to be for sale

This is how tricky the entrance is to Arenal Lodge...they let you know you made it. Ummmm

The road

The master bedroom

The kids room

The volcano was clearly visible...we were so lucky

Me of course!

For supper, we ate at the  restaurant on site.  The food was delicious. I will say that there is no children's menu, so choose the chicken or beef. The meat needs to be well done to get medium rare, my medium tenderloin was almost breathing. But the ambience here is peaceful and soothing. Our family room has two bedrooms and a living room, very large. and gorgeous. The rain pounded on the roof throughout the night, which just added to the rainforest vibe.

Tomorrow,  we are back  to exploring.

Nuevo Arenal on Dwellable