Continued from Chachagua Day 2 Part 2.

Woke up to another beautiful day here in the rainforest. Yesterday we made a point to take it easy and not leave the hotel grounds. Today, our plan is to drive into La Fortuna to get lunch and get a peak at Arenal Volcano.

The kids wake up super early like always, get on their ipads until it’s time for breakfast.

Love traveler’s palms.

We arrived at the restaurant to find the pool next to it completely drained and being filled back up. My guess is that someone pooped in it or threw up in it yesterday.

Cute that the sisters are hanging out by the pool together while we wait for the rest of our breakfast to arrive.

We’ve learned our lesson and now know exactly which a la carte items to order for the kids to produce minimal complaints.

Bird and red bird comes to say hi.

I looked it up and believe this is a male Cherrie’s tanager.

Another bird, I think it may be the female Cherrie’s tanager. Where is PL running to?

Look at that massive seed pod!

We took a very short natural walk after breakfast at the trail right behind the restaurant. The kids must be in a better mood today because they were all eager to go on a nature walk. When we reminded them that yesterday we took them on a nature walk, all of them complained nonstop about it. Somehow, they’ve already forgotten all about it.

RL sighted this very colorful bird in the middle of the forest.

I believe this is a broad billed motmot. What a beautiful bird.

Little KL finds a fallen leaf and declares it amazing.

Oh my god, we almost brushed by these giant crickets on the walk back to our room. They were about the size of a car key fob and were just hanging out totally ignoring us. Pretty sure I’d lose my shit if one of those randomly flew onto me.

Alright, it’s time to head out to La Fortuna. Only about a 25min drive from here.

River crossing to leave the hotel grounds.

We were told that there are sloths that live around this bridge. We did not see any sloths today.

Is that Arenal?

Or is that Arenal in front of us?

No thanks. Get eaten alive by mosquitos and other bugs while you downward dog.

Speaking of bugs, we are visiting the grocery store here in La Fortuna to buy some bug spray and some snacks.

The kids asked if the cat was for sale. I told them it was for the chairs, but they still doubted me a little.

Can’t believe they have Dr. Pepper here.

They don’t really carry diet coke here in Costa Rica. They only really carry coke and coke zero.

That’s Arenal Volcano, with the top covered by clouds. Maybe the clouds will move later?

Lunch spot.

While waiting for our food, I kept on poking my head outside to see if the cloud cover would move, it never did.

Don’t know if the kids are hangry or they are just being assholes.

PL is acting like a total teenager to us right now.

This one is behaving ok.

Angry for no reason.

Pretends to smile for the camera.

Gets so angry that she moves to the next table after trying to pour my beer over.

This one has been a butt too.

At least not all 3 are throwing a fit right now.

Baba makes fussy face like the kids.

Waaaaaa WWWaaaaaa.

Waaaaaa Waaaaa.

Trying to talk some reason to her, but having zero effect.

Death stare.

Pretends to smile for the camera.

Thank god the food is here. Maybe the kids will eat some food and get over their pissiness.

Well, what do you know. Everyone magically got into a much better mood after some food. Hanger, it’s a real thing.

Arenal volcano, still got clouds up top.

I don’t know why I’m getting the kids ice cream after they were being butts to us, but somehow we are.

Got our ice creams and we went to eat them at the central park in La Fortuna.

Still clouds, but you get the idea.

No weed, got it? I think medical marijuana is legal in Costa Rica.

Smile in front of the volcano and no weed sign.

Cool, a public sink at the park. They even have soap.

Alright, bye Arenal Volcano. Too bad we didn’t see all of you today, oh well. It’s the rainy season right now in Costa Rica, and it’s just expected to be cloudy. I guess it can be so foggy and cloudy that we could see none of it.

Back to our hotel.

Stopped by the front desk to ask them where we might be able to see some toucans. While parked, RL and the kids saw the place swarming with hummingbirds.

Alright, the front desk told us that this is the type of tree that toucans like to hang around. We were to a potential sighting spot, but saw none. Disappointed….but then we parked our car and during the walk back to our room, saw the same type of tree and I looked up and saw a bird.

Yup, that’s a toucan!!

Unmistakable silhouette of a toucan. CL has been wanting to see a toucan in the wild this whole trip, and it also became my thing to see in the rainforest. Seeing one in the wild makes this whole rainforest stay feel that much more complete.

Back to pool time.

Need more drinks.

It’s hard taking a family photo.

I had set the phone on a self timer, except I knocked it off into the pool as it was counting down. I picked it up out of the pool, and held it up to take a photo still using the self timer. Ha.

Our little pool bar.

On our way to dinner, oh wait is there another toucan?

Yup, and this one is a different type than the one we saw earlier. Super cool!!

And this was when I noticed that my photos were really foggy. I looked at the lens of my phone and saw condensation inside the camera lens. FUCK!!!! I am guessing that water got into my phone probably when I dropped it to the bottom of the pool. Instant stress spike. My phone is not just my camera, it’s also my gps, my computer, my access to email and plane tickets, etc. etc. I guess we’ve still got RL’s phone…but what if that phone goes down too?

Dinner is happening, but all I can think about is how to solve the water in my camera. RL mentioned that at least the phone still works, and only the camera seems to be affected right now. True.

Tired, doesn’t wanna eat.

Back at our room, I tried the hair dryer to try to see if I can dry the condensation out of the lens…of course, no go. Sigh…I’ll just have to figure this out tomorrow and rely on RL’s phone for most of the pictures.

Tree frogs are out and about tonight again by the swimming pool after dark.

It gets dark here quite early, like around 6pm. We let the kids take a night swim tonight so they too can enjoy the tree frogs and the blue glow of the pool. They thought it was cool, but couldn’t stop themselves from making lots of loud splashes.

It’s bedtime kids. Damn phone with the foggy lens. After the kids went to bed, my phone actually got worse. It stopped recognizing the battery and kept on turning itself off randomly. Then it would randomly turn itself back on after I had turned it off. I guess it’s a true goner now….shit.

My plan is to make an appointment through AppleCare+ at an authorized Apple repair center in San Jose for tomorrow. If they can fix it quickly or give me a replacement on the spot, then cool. If not, then I can just buy a new iphone on the spot there and get a local sim card. I also thought about getting a cheap android phone as well, but then I’d have to learn a whole new phone and android phones with nice cameras aren’t exactly cheap either. A shitty situation to be in for sure. I’m sure after everything’s resolved, I’ll just look back and laugh about it.

To be continued at San Jose Day 1.