Late last week found us anxiously awaiting the arrival of our good friends Todd, Deb, Christopher, and Ben Wilson from the Old Mission Peninsula. They pulled into our hotel overlooking Lake Arenal in the middle of the afternoon and we've had nothing but exciting adventures ever since! With two boys of their own to add to our three, we now make up quite a tribe! 
The two families spent several days enjoying the famous cloud forests of Monteverde, hiking to the Continental Divide, swimming in gorgeous swirling waterfalls, traipsing across hanging bridges to get the best view of Arenal Volcano, and straining for a full view. However, like so many travelers before us, the volcano's tip remained shrouded in mist and we had to imagine what might be revealed should the clouds part.
Arenal is one of the world's most active volcanoes and it erupts frequently. Night hikes often reveal fresh lava glowing down the mountainside. Though we didn't view this spectacle, it was easy to imagine, and also a little frightening. A massive eruption in the late 1960s caused the deaths of some eighty people in a nearby village.
What we did manage to see at Monteverde more than compensated for any possible disappointment we might have felt at not viewing a volcanic eruption.
The cloud forest is famous for its elusive inhabitant the Resplendent Quetzal. Of course, the male far outshines the female with his beauty. (Does anyone besides me remember the Family Circus cartoon in which the little boy looks up at his mom and asks her, "Mommy, did you know that if you were a bird, Daddy would be prettier than you?) He literally took our breath away!
The three school-aged boys (William and Chris, second grade; Martin, kindergarten) were just as excited and awed as the grown-ups. Our guide trained a scope directly on the birds and we had a long, long look at the majestic quetzal - truly, it is a respledent creature, with irridiscent blue-green feathers and bright red markings and luscious tailfeathers that stretch on and on. Quetzals nest in dead trees, working together to excavate and build their nests and rear their young, and we were able to see the mated pair as well as their nest cavity.
We also saw this fabulous male quetzal (or perhaps another?) the following day on our hike to the Continental Divide, and so perhaps it is difficult for us to appreciate how truly fortunate we were - many, many people come to Monteverde to see the rare quetzal, and nearly as many leave disappointed. Luck was with us!
After leaving the Arenal area, we traveled east and south to Playa Matapalo, to an amazing place called Charlie's Jungle House on the Pacific coast south of the Nicoya Peninsula. There, new adventures awaited us. Read on. Chris, William, and Martin want to tell you all about it! Ben and Leonard can't yet write, but they too have enjoyed our outings and can never be left out of anything, unless bribed with Pringles, of course!
Chris' Blog
(3/31/06) Today we saw the Resplendent Quetzal again. We also saw it yesterday at the park entrance. We saw lots of moths and we let them go...it was fun! And we went to the waterfalls. You could swim in them too. There were tadpoles in them and frogs! We caught thirty-nine tadpoles, one frog, and two waterbugs.
(4/1/06) Today we went to a volcano. It was also active! We went on a hike and we saw the hot lava and we got to swim in hot springs. There were a lot of them that we swam in. There were hot pools and cold pools and the kid slides were way too hot!
(4/2/06) Today we packed up and drove seven hours from Lake Arenal to the Pacific Ocean and then we went boogie-boarding. And...we slept in a tree house!
(4/3/06) Today we went on a zipline canopy tour. It was really fun! It's when you ride on a cable and go through the forest canopy. And we went boogie-boarding again. We also built a big sandcastle. We had a hermit crab in it and some sort of other crabs. 
(4/6/06) We went snorkeling. We saw lots of fish. We also took some pictures with an underwater camera. I took some pictures too. I think I took five. One of my pictures was of a metallic blue fish.
On the beach we caught lots of crabs and put them in a sand castle we built. And one day we found a big crab in our shower.
William's Blog 4/4-6/06
Today we went zip-lining. We went on ten lines. We went for two and a half hours.
After that we went into a butterfly garden. The next day we went whale watching and snorkeling. We saw all kinds of fish and coral. I saw eight big fish. They were blue, white, gray, and blueish green. After that we went whale watching. Then we played in a river nearby.
The next day we went boogie-boarding in the morning. Then we drove to a hotel. There we played Uno.
Martin's Blog 4/6/06
My favorite place to boogie-board is at Charlie's Jungle House on the Pacific Ocean. The waves there are great and there are no rocks - just pure sand.
There are millions of crabs too. In fact, Mrs. Wilson (Deb) found one in the shower this morning and we had to move it to the beach. It was black and red and its pinchers grabbed a stick. Good thing it was scared of Mrs. Wilson and did not grab her!
See more photos here
What adventures you are having, every one of you! I find myself a little jealous that I haven't seen such a glorious bird as the quetzal. I loved your description of it and the pictures.
Papa saw a pair of bluebird last weekend; and we watch a pair of Great Horned Owls that nests in last year's red-tailed hawk nest! We had at least a dozen wood ducks in the back yard savannah last Sunday morning. We love watching all of these creatures.
We are looking forward to seeing you in another week. We will return Ashes to his rightful home! Love to all - - Other
Posted by: Sherrie Martin | April 06, 2006 at 05:32 PM
Every day I'm more amazed at not only your incredible adventures, but this incrediable website! Wow...what a treasure.
Anxious to see you in person and hear about everything. Laddie is missing you, too (not too much, he is well taken care of).
-cat
Posted by: Cat | April 07, 2006 at 10:13 AM