9:16 am (Hotel Boyeros)

Good morning! We had a pleasant buffet breakfast at the hotel's restaurant including fruit, toast, and eggs. I tried some papaya, which was a lot less sweet than I expected! Maybe that's a good thing. 😁

We are going to get SIM cards for our phones, as soon as we can get back into our room. I may or may not have closed the door when the key was still inside... But my parents were sitting outside looking like they were ready to go! 😬

At least we have a nice view...

3:19 pm (van on the Pan American highway)

So we did get into our room. 😁 An employee came with a key.

We got our SIM cards for our phones, too. So far they seem to work, although we don't have very many minutes. It's like 15 minutes for calling and if we use those up, then we can't text at all. We can refill though. The employees recommended that we download WhatsApp and use that to text/call each other. It's worked really well so far!

Once back at the hotel, we hung out at their swimming pool, which is pretty nice!

We then had to pack up and check out, because today we are leaving Liberia. Our van just picked us up from the hotel around 30 minutes ago. We are heading to Monteverde! Officially it is a town, but the locals consider it the area around it to be "Monteverde" as well. We are actually going to be in the town of Santa Elena.

Some pictures from the route...

10:05 pm (Hotel Arco Iris)

We have arrived! We actually got to the hotel around 6 pm, and were able to get settled. It is called Arco Iris ("Rainbow"), and is BEAUTIFUL. The landscaping is really pretty, and many of the rooms are their own cozy cabins! It gets dark quickly in the evening, so I wasn't able to take any pictures, but rest assured that I will provide some tomorrow!

We walked down to the main tourist area of Santa Elena, where there are a bunch of restaurants, and ended up eating at Taco Taco. It's on a smaller side street, but is very busy! It was recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel. While the food was good, the wait was a bit long and the indoor seating is loud.

As you can guess, we got tacos. 😁 Mine were beef with mango salsa, which were surprisingly tasty- I don't think I've tried mango salsa before! After my mom recommended it, I got a "fresh drink," which is basically fruit smashed into water (kinda like a mix between a lemonade and a smoothie). I personally recommend the watermelon, lime, and mint. 😄

Good night!