Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

We've arrived.

Today was mainly spent traveling...we left at 1.30am Friday morning, and after one very quick layover in San Salvador, arrived to San Jose, Costa Rica at about 9.30am. The first flight was a bit painful...I had a crying baby sitting next to me, and behind us, two men who decided a red-eye flight was the perfect time to have a very loud, very boring, five hour conversation. Needless to say, not much sleep was had on that flight!

Once we got to San Jose, we found the driver who would take us to our hotel near the Arenal Volcano, about 3 hours away. The 11 of us climbed into a bus with all our gear and started out on the ride, which was a lot smoother than all our guidebooks had led us to believe it would be! We stopped a few times, at a bank, restaurant, and McDonald's, and finally arrived at our beautiful hotel, Naraya.

This place is AMAZING. They greeted us with cool, fragrant washcloths and a delicious fruity beverage before taking us on a mini-tour of the property, complete with complimentary wine tasting. Soon, we were in our rooms, each of which has a gorgeous porch outfitted with a hammock, bathtub, chairs, and a stunning view of the Arenal Volcano. There is also an outdoor shower on the other side of the bungalow.

The moment we walked into our room we flopped on the beds and kind of forgot to get up to meet our group at the pool. Oops! But the nap felt oh-so-good! Then it was off to dinner, which started off in an...umm...interesting way. As Laura and I were walking over, we could hear singing. We look over and see a young man singing "Your Song," complete with his own words to a young women. We were witnessing a proposal! It was super high on the cheese and long-and-drawn out factor. He finally got down on one knee and she said yes. Sweet way to kick off vacation.

Dinner was amazing. I had a simple Tico dish of Casadas Tipicos, which is rice, beans, plantains, cheese and a salad...it was proof that simple can be better than anything else. We'll be having this dish quite a bit over the next week so I am pretty pumped.

Now it's off to bed...tomorrow we'll have a leisurely morning before heading for a volcano hike and visit to the hot springs.

And Tony, if you're reading, you'll appreciate this....they have the Magic Jack on their computers here at the hotel so guests can make free calls home. Brilliant!