Arenal Waterfall
During one of our visits to Costa Rica we stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge at the base of the Arenal Volcano. While there we hiked through the rain forest to a beautiful secluded waterfall that we had all to ourselves. On the way there, we saw a wide variety of birds like the toucan, trogon, parrots, and hummingbirds. The path was littered with beautiful flowering wild orchids, heliconias, and ginger plants. As we got nearer to the bottom of the path, we could hear the roar of the waterfall and feel the cool mist. Epiphytes and ferns were everywhere, and of course, the tiny poison frogs in all of their glorious color.
Rather than depicting the waterfall as it really was, I have tried to include as many of our rainforest friends as possible to give a feeling of fantasy to the painting. To us, it was heaven and we had it all to ourselves, alone. Our memories of the waterfall are of all of the many birds, animals, and plants we saw, but mostly, they are filled with the feelings of serenity and peacefulness of this heavenly place. It was so exciting to sit in the stream and feel the freezing cold water rush from the falls bounce against our bodies. We would then walk towards the tidal areas where the water was so hot it actually boiled from the heat of the volcano. In between was a perfect sauna like hot tub, au natural. For a little while, we had gone to heaven.