L

ake Arenal

 

April 29 - May 6






Costa Rican Flag





As we made our way further into Costa Rica, we spent a night in Tilaran, a small town that we found friendly and pleasant. On a drive from Tilaran we drove past and admired a condominium resort called Arenal Country Club on the shores of Lake Arenal. They had a sign saying that they had rooms to rent, so we thought we would use that as an excuse to take a look at the facilities.

Lake Arenal seen from our three-bedroom apartment at Arenal Country Club
Lake Arenal seen from our three-bedroom apartment at Arenal Country Club

The lake is the product of a dam and so its shores are quite steep. Certainly the ACC property, which does not go all the way down to the water, runs very steeply from the road down to a flatter area at the bottom where there is a restaurant, tennis court, and swimming pool. The accommodations consist of six 2-floor condominiums next to the highway, with the sleeping accommodations downstairs to leave the living areas up where the best views are. And the views are spectacular.

As usual, the first price we were given, $75 a night, was way beyond our budget, but we still agreed to take a look at what was on offer. We were immediately impressed. The condo was furnished with 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, all mod. cons. that included a microwave, a coffee pot and a washing machine and dryer. We drooled. And then came the surprise. When Gerry offered $40 a night, the manager didn't dismiss it out of hand. When we told him we would stay at least a week, he even accepted it. We moved in the next day hardly believing our luck.

Arenal Country Club Swimming Pool
Arenal Country Club Swimming Pool

Before moving in we went shopping for groceries buying microwave popcorn, a nice bottle of white wine (now that we could chill it) and of course some decaf coffee for Jan. We didn't do much of anything for our first couple of days, just enjoying the luxury of having space and time to do not much at all. We admired the view from our living room and exerted ourselves only enough to walk down the hill and take a dip in the swimming pool every so often. This was luxury at a price we could afford.

Shore views along Arenal Lake
Shore views along Arenal Lake

We did drag ourselves out once a day to walk to the nearby village of Tronadora to buy a newspaper and fresh milk and fruit. We also took a walk down to the lakeshore one day happy to see that our accommodations were as good or better than others we passed.

Eco-power generator: A Windturbine Farm
Eco-power generator: A Windturbine farm

On another day, we took the car out and tried to circumnavigate the lake as far as is possible, which is about ¾ of the way around. We were disappointed to find out how badly the road was potholed. As far as we knew, rainy season was just beginning and yet the road looked as though it had been thoroughly washed out in parts. Because of that we only barely made it to the other side of the lake and didn't have time to continue on to the dam. But en route we did see several wind farms, perhaps eco-friendly but ugly. Maybe they should disguise them as old-fashioned windmills and then they would be more attractive.



July 3, 2004