Volcano Arenal

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming” didn’t quite happen last night. I know you loved Arenal when you were there, Josh, and I kind of remember you had a picture of red lava come down the mountain. All I have is about three pictures of blackness even though I did see the lava by some miracle as the clouds cleared about 11 pm but I could not get a picture of it. It was too far away or I had no idea about the camera setting or both. Mike and Sue, you are going to love Arenal. It is one of the few active volcanoes left in the world and if you are lucky you will not be killed viewing it. Costa Rica does not have a lot of tourist towns, but La Fortuna is certainly one of them. As you approach, there are signs for hot springs, cable rides, bicycles for rent, fishing, kayaking and so on. La Fortune is right on a huge Lake and the town seems to survive on tourist business.

I was lucky in that a teacher at my school has parents who own a hotel in Fortuna who are extremely generous, so after the end of the soccer game (about 11 pm), they took me to a lookout point to see Arenal blow. Red Lava flows 24 hours a day but you can only see it some of the time (when the view is not obstructed by rain and/or clouds.) They took me down some long bumpy road which I am quite used to by now, but it never makes it any easier. Why can’t they just pave some of these roads? Especially to Arenal which is probably about the biggest tourist attraction in Costa Rica, I would imagine. It is about three hours from my house and I had to drive through about three different eco systems to get there.

As you leave my area ( beach) you get to broad rolling farmlands which are actually quite peaceful and relaxing. By some miracle, the roads are great, there are cattle feeding peacefully in the fields and we could be in Haliburton if you are willing to stretch your imagination a bit and ignore the tell tale signs of Costa Rica i.e. real cowboys riding horses along the way, a few signs in Spanish and the typical little towns with the church and town square in the middle which all look identical. Even the five or six stores seem to be the same.

On the way to Arenal, you begin to climb into the mountains until you see the Lake which seems to stretch for miles and probably does. The weather gets colder, the clouds appear and the vegetation just keeps getting greener and greener as you get near Fortuna. (Be careful, by the way, if you are coming to visit). There are at least two Fortunas as there are two of most town names in Costa Rica)
I was really taken aback by the huge ferns, the vibrant colours of the plants and the spectacular scenery. It was especially pretty with the drops of rain on the huge leaves. When I got to Fortuna, I immediately took a “gliding” experience on top of the trees. I remember doing something like this is Northland Australia, but we must have been in a cable car because I do not thing I would do the cable thing again because I kept getting twisted around. I almost took the Tarzan swing but when the first girl let out a whopping scream I quietly walked down the stairs and met the group at the bottom.
That night, I went to the hot springs which was a fantastic spot. I had an ‘American’ imitation meal…if I have one more ‘tipica’ Costa Rican meal I think I will throw up! There were about 15 pools ranging in degrees from about body temperature to 150% Fahrenheit in a variety of settings from swimming pools the size of a football field to romantic little hideaways for two people to a large Mayan waterfall which was spectacular. It was definitely worth the money.
A great adventure. I guess tourist towns are not so bad after all!