Teaching a Dolphin to Swim
Costa Rican Gatlinburg
Take a rare, natural phenomenon like, say, a volcano and combine it with diverse wildlife and Polynesian villas, and there’s the Arenal Paraiso Resort & Spa — my home for the next two days (or forever, I’m cool with either).
Day 11, May 22, 2015.
It’s not everyday that when you’re asked where you’re going you say, “Our resort at the base of a volcano.” But that’s exactly what happened. We boared our bus in San Jose and began our drive to the Arenal Volcano for the next two nights. Along the way, we stopped at a small convenience store. Here, I had a vintage Spenser moment. He approached me and said, “Coleman, I had a dream about you last night.” Oh, how lovely. “You were driving a 10-speed bicycle.” Ironic because I don’t know how to. “Do you want to know what the meaning of that is?” I guess. This should be good. “Nah, you’re not ready to handle that.” Oh.
The drive continued through small Costa Rican towns and villages. At one point, we passed a car and Cat mentioned, “Do you think that’s their school bus? It’s yellow.” It was a long drive. At one point, we found ourselves completely surrounded by clouds. Costa Rica sure does love their cloud forests. Eventually, we arrived at the Arenal Paraiso Resort & Spa. Yes, resort and spa. The lobby is a large open-air building with WiFi like we’ve never seen (disappointingly, this is a very short-term miracle).
We were told that our rooms were not ready yet so we went to the hotel buffet for lunch. Luckily, my only options were not just rice and beans. We returned to the lobby to get our room keys and the bus drove us to our rooms. The resort is quite expansive apparently. This was when we freaked. This was not your typical ordinary hotel. Each room was not just a room, it was yet another “spacious bungalow.” Some prefer cabana. I prefer “thank you, UGA.” We wheeled our suitcases down a street and Jack and I’s “spacious bungalow” was located at the cul-de-sac of our row of “spacious bungalows.”
Each one had a porch with two rocking chairs. Ours had a delightful view OF A VOLCANO. Inside was a large room with two comfy beds, a TV, yet sadly no WiFi. But I managed to survive considering I would be sleeping in a “spacious bungalow” and waking up to this view for the next two mornings. I had a feeling that I could adjust. We unpacked our suitcases and ventured around the hotel.
Behind the hotel were hiking trails that led straight down a steep cliffside with switchbacks leading to a supposed waterfall.
Ricky and I searched for a short amount of time, but to no avail (we actually would find it eventually, but that’s a story for another day — a very long story). However, what we did find at this hotel was nothing short of incredible. This hotel had not only a pool, but also a series of hot spring tubs in succession up a hill. The tubs got warmer the higher up the hill you climbed. We whipped on our bathing suits and took a dip in the Arenal Hot Springs. They were, as you would imagine, just as fantastic as you could ever dream. We hopped from spring to spring, progressively warming ourselves up even more. Robin and Jack found a waterfall and we endured their photo shoot. Shockingly enough, these hot springs made for fantastic photos.
Aside from being a cartoon dog look-alike, Cat is also a mermaid apparently. Thus, it would be insane if she didn’t lean up on this rock formation like Ariel at the end of “Part of Your World” while the rest of the group stood behind her as the waves splashing on her back. Truly a majestic moment for us all. This particular hot spring also had a giant lizard standing guard watching over us commit shenanigans. This hotel not only has lizards, but it also has a local sloth. Yes. A sloth. The Arenal Paraiso Resort & Spa has its very own sloth. Aurora said the sloth has been living in this tree for at least a year because she remembers seeing it last year.
He’s the furry looking bulge at the intersection of two branches in the top middle of the photograph. At various times, we would hear some screeching from the back woods of the resort. Apparently, this hotel also has howler monkeys just casually hanging around. The wildlife even at this fancy hotel was like nothing I had ever experienced. Honestly, though, I just remained in shock at all times that I was staying in a hotel at the base of a volcano. I don’t need Disney World to stay at the REAL Polynesian Village resort. I can just shimmy on down to Central America, apparently because that’s what it felt like. After we were sufficiently heated by the hot springs, we walked back down the hill to the regular, chlorinated, chillier pool.
And we taught Arnelle how to swim. When Arnelle laughs, it sounds like a dolphin screech. So it only felt appropriate that our program’s native dolphin should know how to swim. After our pool adventures, we dried off and boarded the bus into town. Arenal is very much like the Costa Rican Gatlinburg.
There were souvenir shops on every corner, men handing out flyers for adventures like zip lining and rafting, and just an overall feel of a town that was once a normal town, but was overrun by tourist interests in the VOLCANO. DID I MENTION THERE’S A VOLCANO HERE. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THAT ENOUGH. Yes, all of the shops basically had the same stuff, but it gave me a good idea of my range of options. Costa Ricans sure do love their Imperial Beer because you can literally get ANY ITEM whatsoever with the Imeprial logo on it. It’s insane. We ate at an open-air restaurant at the request of Spenser so we could watch the Hawks game. This was a mistake. We got absolutely wrecked by a team that just seems to know that they are better than us. It’s disappointing, and I’m a True Believer, but if this is the beginning of the end, I’m proud to have made it this far. I digress. We returned to the hotel for a night of bonding and dancing in our “spacious bungalows.” Around midnight, a group of us trekked out for a midnight swim in the Hot Springs. Sure, we got caught by a security guard. But we’re in Costa Rica. I regret nothing.
