Day 3 - rest day Nov 17

Yesterday afternoon through the night the skies opened up and it poured massive amounts of rain.  So much so that there were mudslides on the road that we came in on and the small dam that the resort (broad use of the word) relied upon gave way and they no longer have hydro power for electricity.  The rivers swelled and rose several meters as a result of the huge amount of water.  Here's hoping that there is no more rain and the rivers go back down as tomorrow we will cross a couple of them.  When I say cross I don't mean on a bridge.  The road actually goes through the river.  We will have to carry the bikes and wade through the river.

 Today was a good rest day...  I chose to not do that much resting and did more of exploring.  I did a kayak tour out on Lake Arenal.  It is a man made lake at the base of the Arenal Volcano.  The volcano is still listed as active but it has not had activity for the last five years.  It was a good day but overcast.  The lake was calm and flat as glass as we were putting the kayaks into the water.  But shortly thereafter the wind came up and we stroked into a headwind with waves starting to build.  It was great to get another perspective of the volcano from the water.  We kayaked into the forest and up to the headwaters of a river that fed the lake.  It was so tropical and lush.  At one point we drifted over to a grassy area and the guide advised us to quickly paddle away.  He said there were probably cayman in the reeds.  He told us a story about when he was in a grassy area on the water and they saw a baby cayman.  No sooner than try spotted the baby did the mother come up into his kayak.  We heard all sorts of strange sounds and saw a family of howler monkeys up in the trees. There were a number of very small babies who were jumping from limb to limb then hanging by their tails from branches, absolutely the cutest thing you have ever seen. 

It was an absolutely wonderful day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a treacherous 60 mile off road/dirt road, 1,900 meter climbing kind of day.  Of course with a couple of river crossings thrown in just for good measure.  Many of the other riders are making fun of me for not having any front suspension on my bike.  As they have said...  that will be the biggest mistake of your life.   I'm pretty sure I have made bigger ones than that.  It's a pretty safe bet.  :) 

This what I saw out of the window of my bunk room.

Some of the beautiful flowers in the jungle...

This is the jungle that comes right down to the lake shore.

Arenal Volcano finally peaked its top out of the clouds.