Arenal Volcano and the Zip-Line Canopy Tour

We woke this morning, and had a wonderful breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto (beans and rice), bacon, fruit, coffee, and juice. We went to the reception to arrange an afternoon canopy tour at the Arenal Paraiso Lodge, and then set off with about twenty other travelers to do a guided hike to the lava flows. We rode down the hill to the entrance of the park, in a trailer behind a tractor, and then set off through the forest. After a couple stops to discuss the history of the volcano and to see some of the birds and different plants and flowers, someone spotted a howler monkey. There were four or five way up in the trees, and they even allowed us to take some pictures and watch them for a bit. After a little more walking, we came across a couple wild turkeys, and then eventually we came out into the lava flows. I had never realized before, but apparently Arenal does not have liquid lava. The lava that comes out of the volcano is actually red rocks, some the size of cars! It was pretty cloudy today, so we could only see the bottom half of the volcano, but we did get some great views of Arenal Lake and the surrounding area. After lunch, we got a transfer out of the park and headed back towards La Fortuna to Arenal Paraiso lodge where we were going to do a zip-line canopy tour. The canopy tour here has over a mile and a half of cable, with twelve platforms throughout the rainforest. It was incredibly beautiful, but unfortunately, it is too hard to capture that beauty in a picture. It is truly something you have to experience for yourself! We were with a group of about 20, and at one point, we had almost all of us on one platform. Other than at that moment, I had a great time. The guides were fun, the zip line was amazing, and so fast, and we even were able to do the last zip line hanging upside down! What a fun experience this was, and a must-do in Costa Rica. Our driver was waiting for us when we got back to the hotel, and we headed back to our lodge. After dinner, we sat out on our patio for a bit, listening to the sounds of the bugs, birds and who knows what else! We couldn't see the volcano again this evening, but we could hear it rumbling through the clouds.