Moving on from Sámara Beach

¡Hola Amigos!


Despite the strong pull of the ocean's tides, we were finally able to extract ourselves from our little slice of Heaven at Sámara Beach.  We rented a car, and headed north in our first attempt at dodging potholes and gritting our teeth as we bumped and bounced along the "roads" of Guanacaste.  Our destination for our final weekend before joining our family in La Fortuna is known as "Rincon de La Vieja," (corner of the old lady) named after the active volcano in this area.   

This area is home to several volcanos, and 32 rivers and streams.  Surrounding the volcanos is dry forest and agricultural land.

We drove through areas of the road that were seemingly covered in snow, but it was actually layers of hardened volcanic ash.  It created a surreal visual treat!

We stayed at Hacienda Guachipelin, a 19th century working cattle ranch. It is a classy, yet understated hotel, with a refreshing pool, delicious food, awesome view of the volcano, excellent marimba music, and wifi (more important than a pool to the kids these days!).

We were able to watch actual Costa Rican cowboys herding cattle and horses.  

And we rode horses down to the Rio Negro, where we had a blast tubing down the Class III rapids.

Notice Kiana's feet up in the air in this next photo!

Check out Deanna's expression here!

Both Papi and Nico got flipped over in the rapids.  

Kiana got stuck in the rocks, so Deanna pushed her through - but they did NOT flip over!

We hiked out to one of Costa Rica's multiple waterfalls, and enjoyed an afternoon with Mother Nature.  Not another soul around!

OK, believe it or not - this simple, short blog took me about 10 hours to complete!!  That is why I have not been able to add a blog very often.  I have more to say and show about the "Rincon de La Vieja" area, but I am going to stop for now, and finish this area later.  Then - maybe - I will finally be able to blog about our life in La Fortuna with our host family!  Please stay tuned.......
La Familia Asbell