Arenal Kayaks Tours on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

Yup, it was a wet one this year.

For us, Christmas day is an opportunity to get outside and get some exercise. Cross country skiing before kids, sledding with kids, mountain biking in the desert for many years and now kayaking on the lake. But this year the weather just didn't cooperate. After missing a Sunday outing because of rain, and waiting almost a week for the rain to stop long enough to load boats, we still didn't make it out on Tuesday, Christmas day.

Yesterday afternoon, however, the clouds finally dispersed and the sun appeared! So, of course we loaded up and headed for the water. It was nice being back out on the lake and the sun felt warm.

We were amazed at how much the lake had come up since our last outing. At least one local rain gauge reader claims we've had over 23 inches of rain this month. That should raise the lake level up considerably and our ability to navigate further into rivers confirms it. And it's not done yet. We still have a potentially and normally wet month of January to go. Maybe the lake will reach the level we had 3 years ago. That would be cool although even now there isn't any beach left. The water has come up to meet and flood the foliage that has worked its way down towards the water during the last 2 years of low lake level.

And, the dry season has already begun for the lowlands of Guanacaste, the farmers will be calling for irrigation water. We'll see if our rainfall can exceed demand for a little while longer.

Anyways, today we got a call before 8am for our first rental of the day. A family of 4 visiting from Venezuela. After their tour we had already scheduled a local group of 4. Two outings today!

Not a bad day at the office...