Don't miss Tabacon Resort, where the hot springs from Arenal Volcano form large pools of steaming water. On a good day you can relax in the pools and watch Arenal Volcano erupt approximately every thirty-five minutes. There is a Hotel on one side of the Volcano, I believe it's called Observatory Lodge. If you can spend a night or two there you may be treated to the sight of Arenal Volcano erupting at night, sending showers of molten rock down the sides of the mountain. Try to get one of the rooms across the swinging bridge, with picture window views of the volcano.

There is a butterfly farm and a hummingbird farm near Monteverde.

Check out the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. In that same area should be the sky-walk, a network of suspended bridges in the upper canopy of the rain forest.

My wife enjoyed Tamarindo Beach and Cala Luna, a resort with private villas, each with their own swimming pools.

I had fun at Sarchi, where they make the traditional wooden ox carts.

You'll see monkeys, iguanas, sloths, wild parrots, maybe even toucans and poison dart frogs.

Although some of these places are somewhat "touristy," the biggest treasure in Costa Rica is the people. They were magnificent everywhere we went. My favorite memories were the family I got to stay with in Tilaran, the children at the grade school, and the road worker I spoke with while out picking up coconuts on the roadside near the coast.

I saw Costa Rica on a whirlwind tour with thirty-five fifth graders, all of whom spoke Spanish. I would love to go again and see it at a more leisurely pace. Too much of it passed by in a flash I only got to see from the Tour bus window.