We made the beautiful drive from Santa Elena down the windy mountain road to Tilaran where the paved road becomes much appreciated! Stacia later found Dramamine at a pharmacy which we now keep in the dashboard for such anticipated drives.
Sugar Cane Mill
Kyra had to go to the bathroom in the middle of nowhere so we stopped at the next little house/restaurant which wasn't open for business but the lady showed us the bathroom around the side. Just next door a man was cleaning a funny looking contraption. It was a sugar cane machine from Ohio made in 1882. He said we could pay $20/person if the kids all wanted to push the white pipe around in circles to crush the juice out of the cane. We declined but he let us take pics & gave the kids little sugar cane samples to chew on for free. We did, however, pay the lady about $2 for the use of the bathroom.
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| Stacia with the sugarcane machine |
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| Man putting in a long sugar cane stalk |
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| Kyra excited about the sugar cane stick |
Lake Arenal
After rounding the western end of Lake Arenal, we stopped at a cute German bakery in Nuevo Arenal & pigged out on pastries as we continued our drive along the shore.
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| Costa Rican flag & Lake Arenal |
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| German bakery on the left (inside pic would have been better) |
As we approached Fortuna on the eastern end of the lake we stopped to watch a family of coati that
was crossing the road. They seemed oblivious to the danger of the road & are more friendly than most animals & don't scamper away. They are kind of a mix between a monkey & a raccoon.
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| a family of coati playing on the road on our way around Lake Arenal |
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| coati right by the car |
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| a better look at its face |
Tropical Paradise near Fortuna
We made it to the town of Fortuna & headed south toward Princesa de la Luna, the name of our place for the night. As we turned off the main road & up the hill, we had to stop to let a man move his herd of cattle by us. A fun delay.
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| The herd of cattle just before we got to our place for the night |
Princesa de la Luna is situated on a few acres of beautiful tropical gardens heavily concentrated with cool trees, plants & flowers with many trails, a stream leading up to a cool waterfall set in a small grotto, & a naturally fed pool that has certainly seen better days. Our place, the Pineapple House, was a spacious, 3 bedroom cottage with a large living area where all the kids slept except for Sydney who got her own room. The main drawback was no AC so the night was a little muggy.
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| Cannon taking a rest in the hammock |
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| family pic just before our hike down to the waterfall |
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| hiking down to the waterfall |
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| family pic just in front of the waterfall grotto |
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| Carley & Sydney taking a shower (Sydney spent a couple days drying out her phone which was in her pocket) |
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| Avery, Cannon & Kyra playing in the stream |
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| The pool was refreshing but missing a few tiles |
Oooohhhhh.....yummy!! And it sounds like a beautiful spot!
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