This morning we opt for horseback riding because we haven’t done it yet and because Leanne loves all things horses.  

As we are waiting at the lodge reception for our pickup, we report the scorpion to the desk clerk who looks shocked. “That’s never-ever happened her in 40 years,” he says, “are you sure?” “Well, it’s still sitting on our bathroom floor because the cleaning woman fled the scene when she found him so you’re welcome to go see for yourself.  

The clerk asks us if we know where he came from which we don’t.  Kyle figures it came in when the cleaning woman was there in the afternoon and hid lying in wait for Kyle to go to the bathroom.  Kyle actually can’t figure out if it climbed up has pajama pants or launched a flying Wide World of Wrestling superfly move from the shelf over the toilet. The clerk looks worried knowing this won’t go over well on TripAdvisor.

We arrive at the horse farm and they have 7 horses lined up for us.  Some of the crew is a little apprehensive about the whole horse riding idea.  “Do they bite?” “Do they go fast?” “Will we get thrown off and bust open our head?” The questions come fast and furious.  The horse rancher is trying to calm everyone down saying the horse and very gentle, go very slow, do this every day, not to worry.  

As he is finishing his speal about how calm the horses are, the horse on the far end starts to neigh, whinny, spit through his nose and kick its back leg. “Ah, that will be your horse,” he says pointing to Kyle.  Oh great, if the scorpions and tarantulas don’t get me, the pissed-off, rabid horse will.

After we are all up on the horses, the horse start off in a single file line onto the trail into the woods. The trail is pretty narrow, winding and steep.  At times, it seems like the horse is going to pitch over the side of the cliff but cuts back and averts disaster.  Kyle’s horse is still neighing, spitting through its nose and looking back at him with the stick-eye. “How many people did you say die doing this every year?” Kyle asks the guide who just laughs and trots off on his horse.

The ride was most excellent as we covered a lot of ground seeing the woods, wide open fields and splendid views down below in the distance of the Pacific Ocean.  We get some great pictures and finish up back where we started with everyone in-tact.  As we get off the horse, we are hobbling around as our groins are quite sore after 2 hours bouncing around on a horse. 

We stop for a quick lunch in town and go back to check-out of the Scorpion Hotel or Horrors.  Kyle and Leanne are in the cabin when Leanne figures it out the source of the scorpion mystery. There is a small circular hole in the roof right above the toilet. The scorpion must have been attracted to the light from Kyle’s phone and plunged right through the hole onto Kyle.  “What the hell is a hole doing in the ceiling?” Kyle asks aloud.  It is a perfectly round circle so it was obviously made intentionally. “We should go now,” Leanne says but Kyle already out the door and down the road. 

Our transport picks us up and drives us the 3 hours to Arenal Volcano and the town of La Fortuna. Uneventful as everyone occupies themselves with their various interests. We arrive at La Manao hotel and hot springs.  It is the complete opposite of the Scorpion Hotel of Horrors. The property is spread out with lush trees, vegetation and green and reminds us of the Rayadavee Hotel in Thailand. They have a restaurant, a pool and a hot springs. We check-in, are dropped off at our rooms and Kyle and Leanne head to the hot spring pool for happy hour. 

After that last place, this is paradise.  The hot spring pool has a pool bar and a separate jacuzzi.  We (Kyle & Leanne) enjoy a couple drinks and to head the jacuzzi.  As we will soon learn, the giant jacuzzi is the social hot spot at the resort. 

Everyone is meeting each other, talking, laughing and getting to know each other.  Conversation is easy for us as when we reveal our trip, we get bombarded with questions. “You really have 5 teenagers with you?” “How do manage the logistics of 7 people?” “What do you do for school?” “What are the coolest places you’ve been?” 

We meet a family having a family reunion to celebrate their mom / grandma’s 90th birthday and she is even going to go ziplining.  You go grandma!  It’s mostly Americans (70% of tourists to Costa Rica are Americans) but there are people from UK and India.  We had told the kids to come to the hot springs to meet us if they wanted and then we’d go back and go to dinner.  Well, the kids don’t show up and now we realize it’s 8pm and we’ve been there two hours.  Ooops, time to go.

We have dinner at the open air restaurant and it’s really good.  Great atmosphere, friendly people, good food. Costa Rica has started its turnaround from the past two days.