Monday, August 21, 2006

Day 7 - Drive to Tamarindo

I woke up early and went outside and was greeted with a very clear view of the volcano. I can’t even describe how impressive it is. It’s there, gigantic, taking up the entire view. WOW!

Arenal Volcano

We ate a tipico breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, tortillas, coffee and juice that was included with the room at the hotel. After breakfast we drove back into town to get some pictures of the church with the volcano in the background.

Arenal from La Fortuna

We then checked out of the hotel and drove around Lake Arenal on our way to Tamarindo. The road around the lake was mostly well paved with only a few rough spots. We made it to Liberia in good time and the good road continued to Belen but after that the road condition really deteriorated the rest of the way to Tamarindo.

Once in Tamarindo we were horrified with all the changes since our visit last June. Lots of construction and new buildings - mostly 5-6 story condominiums, a pizza hut, subway sandwiches, TCBY yogurt and a Burger King! After checking in at Hotel Pasatiempo we were also disappointed to learn that several of our favorite staff members were no longer working there. We walked down into town dodging the trucks hauling construction equipment and choking on their dust clouds. We found that several of the restaurants we liked last year were either out of business or had been replaced with new buildings. We ended up at Nibbana (we ate there last year) and found that most of the tables closer to the beach were gone as a result of enforcing the 25 meter rule that nothing can be built or owned by non citizens that close to the water. We had pizza that was ok. We then walked down to Witches Rock surf camp which is now more fancy with higher prices and the waiters wearing uniforms. With advertising “Nachos as big as your ass” you would think this place would be more laid back! We then went back to Pasatiempo for a swim and hung out in their restaurant/bar playing scrabble until it was time to go to bed.

Nachos

Tamarindo = Babylon

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