OK last picture of the volcano (can you tell we were impressed). It was really hard to capture the night time lava flow but Jacob got some small movies of it so if we can get those organized I’ll share.
Leaving the Volcano
When we left Arenal we decided to spend a few hours at the much talked about hot springs in the area. So we went to the Baldi Hot Springs which has something like 25 pools and water slides etc. all at different temperatures. Beautiful place and the small pools surrounded by tropical plants and trees area lovely. Sadly, not a place to go to during the day when it is hot out because the pools are HOT. The coolest pool we found was about 95 degrees and some were about 116 to 120 degrees. We dipped our feet in and yelled at how hot! The water slides were in the “cool” pool and they were big slides. Ben (13) and Jacob (18) and their dad were game to try both of the open ones (a 3rd and bigger one is being built) and they did crash down them. All three tried each slide once and shuddered saying “no more.” It was very bone jarring ride down and they flipped over at the end shooting into the water in great pain. They were kind of stunned staggering and limping out of the pool. Mark said it was way worse than the old and rickety water park in Malaysia that was on top of a multi-story mall!
The swim up bars were kind of nice until I realized that a coke or bottle of water was $5 a piece (we had forgotten sunscreen and bought a bottle there for $22.00). So we rounded up the children and headed for home. It was another lovely drive through rolling mountain sides and small towns – a bit tricky when it rains but still lovely.
We arrived home to Santa Barbara with great happiness. It’s funny how quickly this is now “home” and thus when we travel away for a few days it feels so nice to get back to our familiar and comfortable house here.
Work of course backed up which is why much of this blog is only now being filled in – sorry!
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