Well, the rest of our night at Lake Arenal was quite relaxing. We didn’t encounter any bags containing bodies. In fact, we experienced zero criminal activity that night. Life went on after our brief but interesting encounter with the police and we grilled steaks for dinner. After our evening meal, Scott put together a slide-show so Anne could get caught up on all our adventures and the group contributed a running narrative. It was the first time most of us had seen his photos so this was actually quite interesting. If he uses 1/32 of his photos, all of the Overland Journal subscribers will be in for a real treat (shameless plug: there’s a remote chance I may end up with a photo published so do myself and Scott a favor and subscribe).

One event of note: I was just about to drift off to sleep when a truck drove through our campsite. This scared the hell out of me until I realized it was probably the police patrolling the area. I was too frightened to actually verify that fact, but it’s a lot more comforting then the thought of someone casually driving through our campsite to drop off a body stuffed into a bag.

Our morning was leisurely and we took the opportunity to drive into the nearby town of Neuvo Arenal for breakfast. Interestingly enough, NA is home to a German bakery. We had stopped by the night before as it was closing and couldn’t get served. The allure of breakfast, internet, and delicious German sausages seduced our group and it was there we dined. The Gringo Breakfast (two scrambled eggs, one sausage, three slices of toast, and orange juice) proved to be a wise choice on my part.

After breakfast, we hit the road. We didn’t get far until we ran into a group of about thirty coatis. These are small mammals related to the raccoon. They were quite friendly and used to humans, almost to the point where it could be mistaken for aggression. One kept walking towards James and just didn’t stop. It was quite a scene. A coati basically looks like a racoon with a long, skinny tail and white vertical stripes along the body.

Most of the drive was fairly ordinary (basically the same jaw-dropping scenery we see everyday) except for a brief excursion through a super narrow residential area where we came close to clipping some 18-wheelers.

Camp for the night was the Best Western Jaco. Jaco is a pretty awful town which I would not recommend. The beaches were crowded, the town was smelly, and it drove home the point that Costa Rica should be seen from a rented beachside house in the middle of nowhere.

Now we’re at Rafiki Lodge. I’ve only been here 8 hours, but it’s pretty awesome. The food has been phenomenal and we haven’t experienced any of the activities but I will stand by my review because it succeeds where every other place we’ve stayed has failed: the waterslide factor.

Rafiki Lodge features an extremely fast concrete waterslide which would never be approved anywhere in the US. This is why it’s so much fun. I must have ridden it ten times this afternoon.
Tomorrow we’re going on a natural history hike. I’m sure I will have some interesting jungle facts for all you guys.

Also, I’ve heard some of you are trying to comment on my entries. It’s pretty hard for me to view these at the moment due to the horrible internet connections I’ve been using. Keep commenting and I’ll check them out and respond to them as soon as possible.

Chuck