We just came back from Costa Rica and I took lot of pictures which I will be uploading to my Flickr account.

On the following posts I will be writing about some of the places we went, but for now I want to write a review of Hotel Vista Linda del Norte, near the Arenal Volcano.

The hotel is just beautiful, with a breathtaking view of the Arenal Volcano and the Arenal Lagoon. The hotel is small, yet all the rooms are very well distributed among the mountain side. There are three types of rooms, standard, junior suite and honeymoon suite. We stayed at the junior suite and I really recommend this one, as it has direct view of the volcano and the lagoon. It is also big enough to fit 4 people comfortably.

The hotel has a pool bar that overlooks the volcano and the lagoon. This is a beautiful setting to have some drinks and relax at the pool or the Jacuzzi. There is also a patio on the second floor where you can take your drinks and just enjoy the view.

Linda Vista offers free breakfast buffet, with fruits, cereals, bread, coffee, natural juices and a la carte omelets cooked while you wait.

People in Costa Rica are very friendly and helpful, yet some people are willing to go the extra mile to help you out, and some of the staffs working at Linda Vista were the perfect example of this. The night we arrived, the restaurant was about to close, so instead of hurrying up we decided to order some food from the pool bar. The girl working the bar told us that because of the time, we could only eat at the restaurant; however she suggested we drive a short distance to a small place that sold hamburgers, sandwiches and other types of fast food. Without having to ask her, she picked up her own cell phone and made a call to the owner of the place to get the menu.  She then waited for us to write our order and called him again to place the order for us. In the process she asked them if they would deliver the food to the pool, which the owner agreed.

When the food arrived she set up a table for us and gave us glasses with ice to pour the soda bottles we have ordered. She did all these things without even expecting a tip, which we gladly gave her anyway.

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After more than 5 years, we are going back to Costa Rica to see old friends and spend Spring Break with the kids in that wonderful country.

This time one of my wife’s cousin, his wife and 11 years old son are coming with us and they are really excited about the trip as this will be their first time in Costa Rica.

We’ll have a very busy schedule. We arrive at Costa Rica this Saturday March 28th, the next day we are visiting Volcán Poas, a dormant volcano near the province of Cartago. The last time we were at the Poas, the sky cleared up enough for us the see the crater. I am hopping for the same kind of luck this time, as I am taking a good camera with me and I am looking forward to taking some decent shots of the crater.

On Monday we will visit Ojo de Agua, a public balneario that doesn’t offer much, except that the water comes from an underground spring and it is really cold, but my kids love it because they have several diving platforms and very few rules to jump from them. Ojo de Agua was my favorite spot when I was a teenager because they used to have free music concerts during the summer, so my friends and I used to go there almost every day during our time off from school.

On Tuesday we will visit friends and walk around San Jose. Things has changed a lot since I lived in Costa Rica and several of my friends are already warning me no walk around San Jose with jewelry or video cameras, as I’ll be a target for robbers.

On Wednesday we’ll leave for Volcan Arenal. We found this great hotel (at least the pictures look good) a couple of miles from the volcano. The night is around $130.00 for a room with volcano view. Arenal is an active volcano and I heard that at night you can see the lava spilling from the volcano. I can’t believe that in the 8 years I lived in Costa Rica I never went to Arenal.

We’ll spend the night at Arenal and then on Thursday  we are leaving for Guanacaste. This time we are going to Playa Hermoza where we’ll stay until Sunday.

We are coming back on Tusday, April 6^th.

I am really looking forward this trip. Not only we are going to reunite with a bunch of old friends, but I’ve taken a new hobby (photography) and Costa Rica is the perfect place to take good pictures.

I’ll try to post some details on the trip while I am in Costa Rica, and perhaps some pictures. Once I come back, I’ll write a full review of the hotels we stayed at in case you decide to travel there and visit these places.