Costa Rica Day 6
Costa Rica
DAY 6 - DECEMBER 9, 2002 - Arenal, Pan American Highway, Carara National Park, Villa Lapas
We woke up several times during the night to the rumbles of the volcano. It sounds like several thunderstorms and they are very short or go on for some time. The one at 5 AM was long and got me up and looking out our picture window to look if we could see the rocks coming down the slopes. Unfortunately, we had heavy clouds over the volcano.
The alarm went off at 6:15 and Gen was already up and showered. We got our stuff out of the room by 6:45 and went to the reception office to check out. They were not up yet but had a big coffee pot out and I had two cups. Costa Rican coffee is excellent - black, strong, and very tasty.
Harry showed up with our van at 6:55 and we helped him to load all the luggage on top so we would have more room in the van. After he had it all up, he had to take them all out and repack as he did not expect us to have it all on top. But it did give us more room in the van.
We went in for breakfast and had the usual. For me it has been toast with cheese and guava marmalade, fruit, and coffee. We were ready to leave at 7:45.
We left and drove down to La Fortuna and then took the road to the Pacific Coast. It was bumpy and twisty with Gennie and I sitting in the back seat. There are the two seats in the front, a bench behind the driver that seats two with a little jump seat, then another just like it and then a longer one in the back. But the back is bumpy and around the curves one gets pushed around.
We went over the continental divide once again, reaching an altitude of 3500 feet and then dropped down to the coast. These roads were bordered by farms that grow ornamental plants for exportation to the USA.
We stopped at San Ramos and got gas and went to the bathroom. Then we got on the Pan American Highway - full of trucks and holes - and then stopped in Esparza to have a coke and stretch our legs. Costa Rica has not had a railroad since 1991 when the earthquake destroyed some of the tracks. They have not had the money or foreign investments to fix so they move everything by roads.
We drove on and got to the Hotel Villa Lapas. When I got out of the van, my glasses fogged over - it was in the low 90's and in the high 90's with the humidity. We checked in, went to our room to put our luggage and then went to lunch.
Nice salad and soup, then choice of pork chops or fish - with lots of black beans and rice, corn on the cob, bread, green beans, and spaghetti. Fish was excellent and I had lemonade. It is an all inclusive place so tonight I will have white wine with dinner.
After lunch we went back to the main road, drove back to the Tarcoles River and saw the huge American Crocodiles all sunning themselves below the bridge. What monsters. Little ones and 26 big ones, covered in mud and just sleeping. After that we went for a 2 hour walk through the Carara National Park.
It was really dark inside the rain forest so photography was difficult. But I got a few shots. We saw a pair of scarlet macaws fly over us and they were beautiful. Then we saw an anteater climb a tree and sleep on a top branch. Then a group three coati crossed the path and foraged for food. We also saw many lines of leaf cutter ants and one large centipede.
We returned to the Hotel completely soaked. My t-shirt was covered with perspiration and my slacks were wet. We hung them up and then went to the pool to cool down. I worked on renaming all the pictures and editing today’s shots.
We went to dinner at 7:25 and met everyone at the bar. As it is all inclusive, the drinks were free. I tried some Chilean white wine and it was quite good. I still prefer red but it was good.
Harry Castro joined us for dinner and he is very pleasant and informative. Nice buffet dinner with meat and chicken and then espresso coffee.
We returned to our room at 9 PM.
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