Well, yesterday was an amazing day! How can we top that??? Read on and you shall see if we can!!
Today we headed for Hotel Kioro at the base of Volcan Arenal (Arenal volcano), one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica (they have more that are active—but this one still has nearly constant activity!) since 1968 when it had a MAJOR eruption that destroyed an entire town.
The volcano is very interesting because one side is still fairly lush with lots of plant life. However, the other side is a mountain of ash and lava. And those who took the volcano hike said it was amazing how it went from being lava to being forest rather suddenly!
Our hotel was incredible and had a fantastic view of the volcano. Even though the top was covered in clouds when we got there, it was still beautiful. And the clouds came and went during the two days that we were there so that we could see the entire thing. . . including the smoke and gases that were being emitted constantly! Very cool! The view from everywhere where in the place was awesome! From the restaurant. .excellent! From the rooms. . .outstanding! There wasn’t a bad view in the place, I don’t think!! They all faced the volcano!
We had a brief talk by a volcanologist about the volcanoes of Costa Rica and Arenal in particular. The hotel we were staying at is actually in the red zone, which means in the case of a major eruption we could have been archeological artifacts one day!! But, luck was with us and it didn’t do anything surprising!
During the afternoon we had three choices of activities—a volcano hike, a hanging bridges hike, and the canopy tour---aka zip lining!!! Although they all sounded very interesting, I went for the thrill of zip lining (and after hanging bridges at La Selva and Tirimbina I was glad I hadn’t done that one—although they did get to see howler monkeys—which I had not seen!!). The zip lines were great although I really prefer the ones I have done before over this particular company. We just went back and forth over the canyon and are a HUGE rush!!! But, it was still good and it is always fun to be with people who have never done it before and see the thrill that they get!!
Then it was back to the hotel to enjoy the comforts. After such a busy week, it was definitely time for some relaxation! And one of the benefits of being near (or maybe on) a volcano, is that they produce heat. . .which in turn produces natural hot springs!!! The hotel had just recently built its own hot spring pools so we got to spend a little time soothing our tired and sore muscles in the natural thermal hot springs. Along with the beautiful landscaping, it was truly like being in paradise!
The only downside is that Arenal stayed clouded over much of the evening. It eventually cleared but no one saw any lava glowing until around 4 when one guy caught it! Lucky him!!
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