I was meditating on what we should do around the Arenal Volcano and my conclusion is that we should honor the gods and toss a virgin into the volcano. However, Sue informs me that this is against the rules.  I am very disappointed. (I hope no one is thinking of taking Steven seriously–ever.)

Instead we are going to have to look at Sue’s list of things that we are “allowed” to do.  (Did I mention how disappointed I am with the whole you can’t throw a virgin in the volcano thing?)

Spelunking in the Venado Caves.  Apparently there are a series of caves somewhere near the volcano that are about 2 miles long.  The photos look cool and how could it not be fun when they require you to bring an extra set of clothes and knee pads! As you all remember from our summer trip out West, I do not like heights. We will see if caves bother me! (Steven has forgotten that we have been to Mammouth Caves.) Oh yeah, the website offers a “​​Experimented photographer” to follow you around and take photos/videos. My question is what sort of experiments were done on the photographer.  😉

Ziplining. As I mentioned above, I am still afraid of heights, so of course we are planning to go ziplining. There seem to be a few places that do it both in around Manuel Antonio and Arenal. Given the things that we are planning when we are near Manuel Antonio, I am thinking that this insanity will have to wait until we are near the volcano.

Hanging bridges. High (literally) on our list is going over some/all of the many hanging bridges that weave their way through the rain forest around the volcano. I saw a note on one called “The Waterfall Bridge” which is 60 meters high.  I am so glad that I have gotten over my fear of heights…

La Fortuna Waterfall. There is a waterfall called La Fortuna. It is 200 feet tall and the hike is only about 15 minutes from the front gate. However, it is down 550 steps, so while the hike down is only 15 minutes, the hike up is by my calculations (factoring in our ages, physical condition, and level of internal grit) 22 minutes for Sue and between 6 to 8 days for me.

Hot Springs. I am not sure how this fits into the whole “I am scared of heights” motif that I have been weaving, but the idea of hiking a bunch and then lowering my old, fat sore muscles into a hot springs sounds like a keeper. One of the places offers various spa treatments including both Chocolate and  Volcanic mud wraps.  Seems like too good of an idea to turn down.

Fuck it Dude, let’s go bowling.

For those of you who don’t know the line above and title quote it is from the movie “The Big Lebowski”…many thanks to Walter Sobchak.