A Day at Tabacon

 Though we all went to sleep early, Cora and I had a rough night because the AC kept dripping water on our heads and then it got uncomfortably cold.  Fortunately, we had a relaxing day planned at the spa and could catch a cap nap whenever we wanted.  First, we enjoyed a Costan Rican breakfast with Cora's now favorite dish, pico gallo, and my favorite, plantains.  A quick taxi ride to the spa and then we had the entire afternoon to explore Grand Spa Tabacon; we chose to come to Costa Rica solely for this spa.  The first part of the morning, we stayed near the swimming pool area and had some lunch.  We didn't realize that there was so much more to discover, with trails leading up to various thermal pools and waterfalls.  Our time of discovery ended abruptly when we say a small green snake slither away by one of the pools.  Apparently, Weiru is deathly afraid of them and refused to go up into the rainforest any further.

No problem, we had about an hour before our spa treatments, so we asked if we could "check-in" a little early and we relaxed in bathrobes and enjoyed the serenity.  I didn't know that our facials would be outside, which was amazing, with the sound of the waterfall in the background the entire time.  The facial itself was good, something I would expect at any high end spa, but the service was excellent.  We could order fresh smoothies whenever we wanted!  We had an Italian buffet dinner afterwards that came with our day package, which wasn't the greatest, but satisfying enough.  Another wonderful day in the volcano region.  

Arenal Volcano disappeared this morning

Here's a picture of it from the same place the day before.

 Grand Spa Tabacon, not (as we learned) to be mistaken for Hotel Tabacon as they are in two separate locations. 

 A large lizard welcomed us to the resort; the poor thing had a huge chunk missing from his "fin" though.

 Excited about our day of relaxation

 Thermal swimming pool with a swim up bar and a spectacular view of Arenal.

 Just taking it all in

 Cora and I having a little fun, poking our heads out of the waterfall

Talk about paradise!

 There were stairs into every waterfall we encountered, so we couldn't help but go into them.

 The last picture we got before encountering the snake.

An elephant greeted us when we returned to the hotel, which was a bit sentimental because I just bought Sophie a stuffed animal elephant just before I left on the trip.  We accidentally left her original one at the hotel in Denver and she would cry for it sometimes.  She was clingy the week before I left, so I thought that getting her a replacement elephant would make her feel better.