Monday 25th January 2016
 
So we must leave Arenal and its rain, our transport arrives to take us by road the 10 minutes to the boat jetty on Lake Arenal. This lake was formed after the terrible volcanic eruption in 1968 and has been a source of hydro-electric power as well as a fantastic facility for boating, kayaking, wildlife and the like for tourists and residents. A remarkable turnaround after the devastating tragedy that killed 87 and wiped out 2 villages. The 30 minute journey with Victor, our very loud guide, saves us a long 2 hour drive to get to the other side and then we still have a 90 minute journey to our hotel in Monteverde.
Hotel Belmar is beautiful! It's set on the mountainside like a Swiss Chalet. It's made of wood, four storeys high, set in fabulous gardens with a small Jacuzzi house just above a large pond. Our room is on the second floor, with a cracking view of the huge Lake Arenal in the very far distance. The bar/lounge/restaurant/lobby is on the next floor up, which is also ground level at the back! The floors in the whole building are the most beautiful polish wood as is the bar and the balustrades around the edge of the terrace so we can enjoy drinks or meals looking out over the gardens and trees. It gives the place quite a colonial feel. More like a safari lodge over looking the savannah. I love it. All produce here is grown on the hotels farm if at all possible and they make the most of herbs in the meals, even breakfast as well as their cocktails. Tico time is the hotels take on happy hour. Tico is the name given to residents of Costa Rica and a lovely people they are. For happy hour I enjoy Tapas and Tequila based cocktail whilst Peter samples a India Pale ale at 5.4% from the hotels own microbrewery. They really have thought of everything here.Dinner is exquisite. Incredible Beef carpaccio, freshly baked rolls to go with Peters home made Aztec soup, including locally produced cheese. Jumbo shrimp (which are enormous prawns) with an array of superb vegetables and a coconut sauce. Our homemade ice creams, of Coffee and the deepest rich Vanilla you can imagine finish off a sublime feast of flavours. A good job we're only here 2 nights or we'd be travelling home as excess luggage!