brief: trip to Costa Rica

 In hotel using an old computer spanish xp, slow so can only brief things I dont want to forget, pics will be uploaded later since not bring usb and no handy resizing tools. Later when come back will re-write in chinese for detail with beautiful pics.

Saturday: take early 6:40 flight to Charloette then to San Jose, not seen pick-up at airport, wait for quite a long time, get help from an car rental agent call hotel and get the pick-up's phone and get in touch, reason is the pick-up use hollow character and didnt walk around so can't be seen. He is very friendly, been working in Boston for a chinese(HK) travel agent, give me some ideas about San Jose and recommend two restaurants(one chinese one argentine steak) right in front of my hotel, also left me vouchers and my tour info. Walk around downtown(very small), cloudy not good for pics, check price and everything more expensive than US, and no place to use US$, should exchage at the airport. Here get dark at 5:30, I decide to eat in chinese restaurant so can get more info. Good decision, the waiter same from Guangzhou and give me lots idea, and change money with boss at 514(official is 520). The restaurant is cantonese style, elegant traditional style, very famous in San Jose, even President came, and even have dim-sun in the evening, has a big gold fish pool. I order yangzhou fry rice and iron pan beef, very good and big, cost about 30$ including tips. Hotel room is nice, two queen-size beds, TV has lots of channel include cctv-4, discovery, etc. I watch couple of minutes of Xinwen Lianbo, counting down all heads' activity like Chairman Hu in Australia etc.

Sunday after breakfast pick-up to Arena Volcano, the second most active in the world, bus drive through mountain area, foggy and beautiful farm land, best for black-white. Stop in souvenir store, didnt buy anything since quite expensive. Stop in a nice town with beautiful garden in front of church, hugebushes are cut to all kinds of shape, really the first time see bushes are made so big and so many together. Finally 3.5 hours reach town in Volcano, take a look the garden in the town then head to lunch in a beautiful inn, nice lunch and nice garden, took lots pics including a parrot. then head to other side of volcano to get best pics, very impressive, like Fuji mountain without white cap. Then head to most famous hot spring resort Tolucon(I dont know so famous after), impressive, amazing garden, huge, lots of cascade, top of the world, the waterfall hits on your back like thousands little hammer, also took lots pics, and then eat a beautiful buffet dinner, it has little lobster, chocolate flow like fountain for you to dip fruit, great. And I was the only one stay in that area Arena Paradise, 4 star resort, all house no high building, since it's raining the guy has to drive me to my room, no idea how hotel is, then watch TV, signal not very good seems using satelite, but including movie channel, HBO etc. And one channel is hotel's introduction, woh this hotel is amazing, it has it's own spring cascade, canopy, horse ranch so you can ride to volcano, all the rooms facing volcano for best view. So I set the pager(I bring the pager since I dont use watch) alarm every 2 hours at night but unfortuanately no luck to see lava burst.

Monday I wake up and have nice breakfast then wandering in the resort, huge, beautiful decoration, and gorgeous view for the volcano. Took lots of pics then head to Monterena, via boat cross Arena lake(buried by last big burst and took 6 years to dig out) and a 2 hours tough road(no cement road, purely mud and stone road), bumpy roller-coaster, nice view. Arriving my hotel at noon, no activity booked, good, since raining season, later it raining hard, the manager of hotel recommend night jungle trip but he is honest about the rain, I took chance and book the trip, unfortunately when the trip start the rain pouring again, but it's really fun, still see animals, especially spider, big famous orange leg tarantula, lazy popo bird, butter fly attract by light, gigantic ant nest, and lots walking stick, the insect camoflouge the trip branch. Also a friendly guy Kevin live in same hotel from Las Vegas, building designer including 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and 3 casino. He did the translation, then after the trip he said there is a famous tree-top restaurant. Wonderful restaurant, surround a big rong-shu, delicious combo(shrimp, beef, fish, pork, vegetables), good price, drink some beer and total is 30$ each.

Today head to famous Solentura park, it has several famous thing, the best canopy, a sky walk across the jungle, insect library and several garden:butterfly, reptile, humingbird. Take the sky walk trail, it has about 10 suspension bridge along the road, whole trail if not stop taking pics is 1 hour at least, amazing experience, seeing gigantic trees around you, rivers thundering underneath, I took lots of pics, bring the tripod so can take for myself, spend 3 hours inside. Then purchase the garden package 3+1, buy 3 garden ticket get huming bird free, total 26$ save 11$, and with a guide, today I am the only one so it's my VIP tour, seeing lots of butter flies but hard to take pics. And insect library is amazing, the donor is US professor, whole life(still alive and live on above floor of the library) collet 1 million samples and beautifully decorate organized, also watch an amzing video of most intrigue insects that he filmed, amazing world. Reptile also good. And most wonderful finish is the huming bird, it's open environment so I wondering how they keep the bird, answer is greedy, using  several bird feeder attract bees and huming birds, beautiful, I took hundreds pics. what a great day, nice and sun shine in raining season.

come back and later Kevin also back, he went to day jungle trail whole day and also amazing, only 9$ see lots of animals and butterflies, little waterfall etc, not decide tonight's dinner. While I am typing right now I got bitten by mosquito, little insects around, and yesterday the poor lost one leg grasshopper is dead by the monitor.