Costa Rica

Direct from Detroit to Liberia takes four and a half hours. After that a 30 minute bus ride brought us to Playa Hermosa ("beautiful beach").

And beautiful indeed, no high-rise buildings, no tourist shops, just a large open beach with some bungalows, a small hotel and  a village with a hand full of houses and 3 restaurants

Costa Rica has done an excellent job of protecting nature. About 30% of the country is protected park, all beaches and coast line are public property and there are strict rules to make sure development does not harm the environment.

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After 3 days of sun, swimming, food and rest we longed to see a bit more of Costa Rica. We rented a four-wheel drive car to bring us to one of the most active vulcano's in the world: Arenal. A close visit of the vulcano is not advisable, Arenal kills visitors almost every year.

We preferred seeing Arenal from the Jacuzzi on the balcony of our suite at the Tabacon resort. A special treat here are the hot-springs. Arenal sends down a river with hot-water, and the riverbed has 25 different pools and waterfalls with temperatures from 25 to 40 degrees Centigrade. All this is in the middle of a forest with lush vegetation which makes it quite spectacular.

We wanted to see  much more of this beautiful country, but we decided to head back to the beach and enjoy 2 more days of sea and sun, charging the batteries for the second half of winter in Michigan.

But we will be back to Costa Rica to see more.