La Fortuna and Volcán Arenal

we made the family-run Arenal Oasis Eco Lodge our home for five days in La Fortuna. we had our own little cabin in the middle of what looked like the Garden of Eden, minus the tree of knowledge (well, i guess it could have been in there somewhere but we never found it). what we did find was the red-eyed tree frog, the poison dart frog, the chestnut billed toucan and lots more leaf-cutter ants. we also spent time watching and listening to school-bus sized lava rocks go bouldering down the side of Volcán Arenal, and viewing the rain forest canopy from a suspension bridges.



at one point it rained for about 48 hours straight. of course we were totally bummed out thinking the Costa Rican winter had arrived. but it turned out to be a huge storm that affected the whole country and parts of Nicaragua. we were fortunate to be in the central highlands where little to no damage was done. when the clouds finally cleared we could see the volcano in all it's glory. it was awesome! we also decided to make a simple change in the itinerary so we'd have a chance to see the lava at night. more on that later.