27 dogs, 2 cats, 1 donkey and 1000 cows

That's what I thought was going to be the focus of this story: the entertainment on today's drive.  It is not.  It only captures what I saw the first half of the ride.  I should point out that this entire post will be me complaining, hopefully in a humorous way, but just giving you a heads up.  When planning the details of this trip, we found what seemed to be the easiest and most pleasant way to get from Monteverde to Arenal, a taxi-boat-taxi combo.  Well that is how we got here, but frankly, at least twice during the journey, we didn't think we would make it!  And I get to say we this time.  The issue was not with the driving actually, or the ever present winding, narrow and steep roads (I know I've mentioned them before, but this is important.)  The drive was in fact so beautiful that I forgot to get nervous!  Being nervous apparently is actually my lucky charm.  After about an hour of driving through green pastures and mountains, we got a clear view of the astounding Arenal Volcano.  

All was good.  Or  so we thought.  As we approached the Arenal Lake, however, our van got stuck in the mud.  Here's where the fun begins.  What do most people do when a car gets stuck in the mud?  Well, common sense tells me to recruit some strong, most likely, men, and push it out, right?  Especially because there were two young strong guys in the van, plus the driver, plus the other three drivers that came to check out the situation.  No big deal, right?  They pushed it out of the mud right?  Wrong.  One guy pulled out a skinny little rope and gave it to the other guy so everyone could stand around and watch this attempt (obviously) fail.  I mean, I only taught 9th grade Physics, but there was clearly something wrong with this situation. 

After waiting, waiting and waiting some more, Dr. C took matters into her own hands and rallied everyone to get our stuff from the van and bring it to the boat ourselves.  Again with NO help from the DESAFIO (that’s the tour company NOT to use if you come to Costa Rica) green shirted guys.  It's not like we are wimps, but seriously.  We lugged our bags through the mud and pricker bushes and got on the boat. 

What started off as a beautiful ride... turned into another trial.  In the middle of the lake, the motor on the boat died.  Yup.  Died.  It did not restart, despite multiple futile attempts.  And at this point, I really had to pee.  The boat driver thought this was very entertaining.  I did not.  Another boat was called to tow us to shore, and eventually we made it.  Without help one final time, we dragged out heavy packs up a very steep slope and then waited, hoping taxi round two would get us to our hotel.

Surprisingly, it did.  The hotel employees unfortunately suffered slightly due to our horrid experience getting here, (sorry, but Dr.C and I apparently respond the same to complete incompetency,) but after getting settled in and working out some exciting adventures for the last few days that we are here, we were able to enjoy the amazing view, some great food and a good night's sleep.