Costa Rica Day 5
Costa Rica
DAY 5 - DECEMBER 8, 2002 - Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna, Arenal Observatory Lodge
We got up at 6:30 and were at breakfast overlooking the Arenal Volcano at 7:30. It was a buffet with eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, toast, cheese and Gallo Pico.
We took a short trip in the van to the base of the lava flow in the Arenal National Park. We had to cross a swift river - stepping on slippery rocks - and then walked/climbed through dense vegetation to the top of the lava flow. We did go through a couple of different vegetation eco zones with rain forest at the bottom and drier at the top.
We spent some time at the lava flow, watching the volcano spew gasses and huge boulders that would careen down the sides. Then we had to climb down the same path cross the stream again and get back in the van to change shoes and go to La Fortuna, a small village - 40 Kilometers away.
The village has built up since 1968 when the tourist started coming to see the volcano after its last major eruption that wiped out to other villages. Now there are hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and we found at least three internet places. Slow connections. It took us 35 minutes to send the pictures to Eduardo and Gen had to enter her grades for UoP.
After that we walked through a small portion of the town, shopped a little, and met everyone back at the restaurant and had hamburgers and a light lunch. We spent some time talking and being cool.
On the way back we did a little shopping at roadside wood store where Gen bought some things for her teachers. We returned to the Lodge and we went to the hot tub and swam in the pool. Mom read her book. We walked back to the main lodge and we went to the observatory by the bar to see the sunset.
It was not spectacular as it had been the day before. The sunset was too cloudy and not much color. We saw that they had the Broncos vs Jets. What a disaster. We came back to the room, edited the pictures and after dark Harry took us to see if we could see the lava flow. But because of the heavy cloud cover on top of Arenal, we only saw three eruptions of red lava but we have been able to hear when the volcano talks.
We came back for dinner, Gen had Lemon Chicken and I had a Jalapeno Steak - both we very good and well cooked. We then had chocolate ice cream and I had some coffee. We returned to the room at 9:15 to update our animal/bird list and write this journal.
Comments
Featured Journal
Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
