Sometimes the Volcano Gods are good to us and sometimes they are not. We awaken to find the Mountain covered in clouds (not at all uncommon) and showers rolling through as we have our breakfast at the restaurant at Linda Vista Del Norte. Fruit, cereal, toast and a hot breakfast are provided as part of the nightly room charge. (be sure and request your bacon 'crispy' or it will arrive sporting nothing more than a suntan!). The waiters are all local kids and very proud to be serving you. If you are lucky they will also help you brush up on your Spanish. Breakfast done, Spanish brushed, showers subsiding, and clouds lifting off the mountain, we load-up for our first day of adventure and hiking on the Volcano.
There are several locations for exploring the Arenal area and our favorite is the Arenal Volcano National Park. The tickets are $10/person but are good for the remainder of your visit at any other National Park in Costa Rica. Now that's a deal! We swear by the website at Arenal Net as the best place to find out all things about the Volcano and the area. For example, if you switch to Arenal Net now, you will find the National Park on the West side of the volcano as well as our hotel at point 17. Most importantly, you will see which direction the Volcano is currently erupting ... when erupting! This is very helpful if you actually want to see an eruption from any place except from a tour bus window. All the hotels not in the direction of the current eruption zone have lovely views of lush green slopes, but they don't even see the gasses venting from the top of the Crater.
If you are a volcano junkie or hope to become one, you gotta have gas and lava... Now back to our previously scheduled hike...
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The hike takes you thru the rain forest at the base of the volcano and up into the lava fields. From the highest point in the field you can actually hear the 'irridescent' rocks tumbling down the mountainside. You never want to get closer than that, but it is a real experience to be that close.
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| Deciding which one of us to sacrifice to the Volcano Gods |
On our hike, the volcano was very quiet as it has been for the previous 6 months. Arenal is one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world so the chance of seeing an eruption are pretty high, but not guaranteed. In our previous trips we have been treated to truly phenomenal shows, but this trip we saw no eruptions at all. Still, the hike on the lava field helps you understand just how this kind of Vesuvian Volcano actually works and is well worth the effort.
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| Picking our way through the lava field |
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| One of the giant strangler figs along the way |
Fresh from our morning hike, it's time for lunch and where better than La Fortuna? Yes, we are tourists at heart. We grab a quick lunch, explore transportation options to the Caribbean side for our friends from Provincetown and collectively decide it would be a fine time to explore the local hot springs... It was showering after all and we do so hate to hike in the rain. (Despite having bought almost $200 in rain gear between us!)
Tabacon here we come! To be fair, there are LOTS of hot springs in the area ranging in price from free (just ask a local) to $65/day. We chose Tabacon on this trip because we wanted the whole show, including dinner and a pass which would still get us back in the following day ($70/person). Tabacon, as a facility is so over the top that it is the perfect way to pamper tired legs and achy bones from traveling. So, we spent the entire evening soaking up the warmth, enjoying the swim-up to bar and strolling the meticulous and magnificent gardens (be sure and take a good pair of water shoes because the concrete walkways can be rough on the bottom of bare feet).
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| You can carry your wallet or file your credit card. |
I guess to be totally honest we should say that Tabacon is located on the site of an old Costa Rican village of the same name which was wiped out in the mid-60's eruption and in the mid-90's three guests of the hot springs were killed when a sudden eruption sent scalding water into the springs and turned them into people-soup. But don't let that dissuade you...it certainly didn't slow us down!
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| the joy of a swim-up to bar! |
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| The upper falls |
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| The main pool |
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| The incredible setting at night |
We had dinner included in the cost of our ticket and enjoyed a wonderful buffet of traditional Costa Rican preparations as well as many International dishes reflecting the wide variety of guests who visit the springs.
We dropped into bed a little after 10 and enjoyed the sounds of the rain falling in the forest outside our window.
Monday, April 4, 2011...
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| El Castillo (Rainbow by nature...) |
What a special day this turned out to be! Starting with rain in the morning we decide to explore closer to home. Like right next door... The town of El Castillo is small, very small. An intersection with a stop sign is larger that El Castillo, but what it makes up for in size, it more than makes up for in quality for it has two of the most interesting and well zoological exhibits any of us had ever seen.
The first of these we visited, was a butterfly garden named The Butterfly Conservancy. It had 4 large Butterfly 'cages' dividing the butterflies by related species and host plants, a tolerable frog collection, but don't go there for the frogs, and a decent collection of rainforest plants. Finally, it has a nice little trail system where we had our closest view of Howler Monkeys of the entire trip. But don't get lost in the ephemeral because the magic here is the butterflies and their breeding and preparation for release to the wild.
These folks take there butterflies VERY seriously. Beginning with a live demonstration of the Chrysalis stage, some of which such as the Monarch and Victoria Butterflies seem to have been cast by jewelers.
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| Chrysalis of the Victoria butterfly waiting to be born |
The conservancy takes you through each stage of the breeding program like proud parents describing their honor student's math grades.
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| Butterfly larvae stage |
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| It's an owl butterfly but do you see the snake? |
Like many things in Costa Rica the biggest surprises can be found in the most unsuspecting places and this was certainly a huge surprise and a great pleasure to have discovered.
Next door to the Butterfly Conservancy is an unrelated but just as passionate enterprise called The Eco Park, with the most impressive collection and habitat for snakes, amphibians and lizards we have ever seen. Even the finest Zoos in the States can't rival this local enterprise celebrating animals most of us were scared to death of. Believe me, among our group of ardent trekkers this was a tough sell.
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| Bob trying hard not to be convinced Eco Park is a good idea |
When we drove up to Echo Park the sign said the price was $15USD for the guided tour. But a guide who did not speak English immediately volunteered to do the tour for $10... How could we refuse? As we have found so often in Costa Rica, language may be a barrier but it should never dissuade you from the experience. So our new friend, Edgar, took us on the adventure of a lifetime, handling snakes, getting up close and personal with all kinds of exotic species with a care and understanding which only comes from really caring about these wonderful creatures.
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| a juvenile Rainbow Boa |
Our heads dancing with butterflies and crawling with snakes, lizards and tarantulas we head into La Fortuna for lunch... Yes, we all washed our hands first! after lunch it is still showering off and on so our friends from Provinvcetown finish their arrangements for heading to the Caribbean. Since we still have a free afternoon at Tabacon remaining from our previous visit, we all decide to go back for another soak. The magic of the hot springs still lures us in as we walk about trying one hot pool after another, a drink at the bar, a soak in the swimming pool or a cool down dip in the farthest hot springs from the top that is the coolest. Then it's time to hit the locker room, shower, change into our street trekking clothes and head back into La Fortuna to drop off our friends from Provincetown.
We have dinner at a Puizza place and say good bye to our friends. They have an early rise at 5:30am to catch a bus to the Caribbean coast so they need to hit the sack early to get some sleep. We, on the other hand, have no agenda so we decide to head back to Linda Vista Del Norte to discuss what we want to do for our journey on the road to Monteverde.
But first we still have one more day to fill...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011...
after an early breakfast we pack-up and check out of our Home away from home in Arenal. We have really come to enjoy this little and all but impossible to reach little hotel The road around the base of the volcano is terrible, but they scrape it daily. In fact, I don't think we would like this little portion of Costa Rica to be more accessible because everyone would want to come here and that would not be good... at least for us! If you are coming to the La Fortuna/Arenal area be sure and check out Linda Vista Del Norte We had one of the Master Suites and they were sumptuous.
We three fellow travelers. decide to go off the beaten path for our last adventure in La Fortuna. We had heard from others about the ‘blue river’. Consulting our Oracle, The lonely Planet guide book, we found what appeared to be a close match right in La Fortuna and our GPS seemed to know exactly where to take us. What we found was La catarata de La Fortuna. Beautiful facility operated by a community organization in La Fortuna, clean restrooms, snack bar, gift shop, etc. but, why were the people we were passing so near to extremis? Panting, sweating, gasping for breath, thanking god they had made it…What had we gotten ourselves into? The Mirmar view of the water fall was certainly spectacular, and seemed so close we could reach out and touch it.
We find the trail head and down we go. Along the way we pass people nearing exhaustion, lots of overweight hikers ready to explode, huffing and puffing not to be believed and down we go further and further, steps, steps, more steps…
finally, after descending what for all practical purposes is an elevator shaft with a handrail we arrive at an azure pool with a sparkling white column of water falling from the sky.
The crystal clear water leaves the pool and heads down river, which is very clear but not Azul (blue) so we ask the security guard who certainly was experienced enough to know of these things where does the river turn blue? He smiled and said, “Oh that river, is six hours from here, very beautiful, you should go.” We looked at him, then looked back up the elevator shaft and just shook our heads. It was exactly as the guide book portrayed it to be, it just wasn’t the blue river.
finally, after descending what for all practical purposes is an elevator shaft with a handrail we arrive at an azure pool with a sparkling white column of water falling from the sky.
The crystal clear water leaves the pool and heads down river, which is very clear but not Azul (blue) so we ask the security guard who certainly was experienced enough to know of these things where does the river turn blue? He smiled and said, “Oh that river, is six hours from here, very beautiful, you should go.” We looked at him, then looked back up the elevator shaft and just shook our heads. It was exactly as the guide book portrayed it to be, it just wasn’t the blue river.
Time for a swim! Cool but not cold we enjoyed a beautiful swim in a post card setting where the water was so clear you could easily see the bottom without a mask. The climb back to the top was a bitch (Bob counted 610 steps), but even for three old guys like us it wasn’t a killer. However, if you visit this beautiful place, before descending The Catarata de la Fortuna read and heed the warnings.The beauty is incredible, but the dangers are very real.
Following lunch in La Fortuna we prepare for the trek to Santa Elena and Monteverde.
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