As part of our tour of Costa Rica we travelled by boat across the Lake Arenal on our journey to the Monteverde cloud forest. We were somewhat mystified when our luggage boarded our tour bus at the hotel in Arenal and went off without us for a joy ride with Gabriel our driver. However, all became clear when we arrived at the lay by above the lakeside: there was a very steep slope to scramble down in order to board the boat and an even steeper, more slippery slope up to meet the coach on the other side. It would certainly have been a challenge to manage ourselves and our cases!
The views whilst crossing the lake were beautiful, though sadly the volcano remained shrouded in clouds throughout our journey. Our ship's captain thoughtfully pulled up alongside the shore at one point to show us an Osprey perched in the trees above, and waited patiently until we had all managed to take a photograph. We also spied heron and other wading birds and enjoyed the antics of the swifts swooping past us.
It was a very pleasant way to travel, and preferable to the 2 hour journey by road. As it was, we had a bone-shaker of a journey, literally bouncing along dusty, unmade roads from the other side of the Lake to the Monteverde Cloud Forests.
