Arenal

Once we finished our hike in Rincon de la Vierja National Park, we started our drive inland to Arenal, a tiny mountain town.

From our hostel, Essence Arenal, we had an absolutely amazing view of Lake Arenal and Volcan Arenal - An active volcano that was smoking almost the entire time we were there.

I was thrilled to see the pool! After swimming in the ocean salt water for so long, the pool was wonderful!

Every night at Essence Arenal, a chef comes in to cook dinner - With a twist. He and the staff cook the majority of the food, but each person who will be eating has to help with part of the meal. Our first night was Indian food night, and we all took turns making our own naan bread (as Kyle is demonstrating above). The second night was Mexican night, and we had spicy vegetarian salad in a taco bowl. So good!

A couple of the other tourists staying at the hostel were a middle-aged couple from Switzerland, who were travelling around the country just like we were. The husband, Daniel, brought his acoustic guitar and played music on the patio outside the bedrooms and in the common room each night after dinner. We ate dessert, drank wine and listened to him play classical guitar for hours. Kyle enjoyed it so much that he asked Daniel to send him a couple of his CD's when he got home from his holiday.

They had a full house at the hostel while we were there, and the room we were assigned had a lovely set of bunk beds. Kyle, always the gentleman, let me have the top bunk. What a wonderful husband I have!

We adored our stay in Arenal, and wished we could have stayed longer at the hostel. Essence Arenal is highly recommended by these newlyweds!