Volcan Arenal

---

Our friends from California, Todd and Nancy, arrived last week for a 20-day vacation! We decided to join them for their first stop - Arenal Volcano. It had been dormant for 300 years until it erupted unexpectedly in 1968 (killing 85 people in the process). Since then, it has been spewing lava, gas, ash, and hot boulders off and on. It is apparently the largest or second largest active volcano in the Western hemisphere. So, one of the attractions is to hopefully see a live volcano in action. This depends on luck in 2 ways simultaneously: 1) the clouds aren't covering the summit and 2) the volcano is actually doing something interesting.

Of course, first you have to get there. We took the boys out of school a couple of hours early on Friday and set off for what should be a 4 hour trip. We made a lunch stop in Zarcero (the place with the cool topiary sculptures in their main square) and drove through some beautiful countryside. Then we came up to traffic at a dead stop - never a good sign. We sent the two Nancys and Kyle ahead on foot to scout out the situation. Turns out a bus and a Pathfinder had collided, blocking both lanes of traffic. So, we sat with dozens of other cars and trucks for about an hour before we could finally go - and then had to drive behind slow-moving trucks. We arrived tired and a bit grumpy after a 6 hour journey. But, after that, the weekend improved substantially.

We decided to splurge and take a room at the Lost Iguana hotel (where Todd & Nancy would be staying for 3 nights) for the night (we had reservations at a cheaper, more remote hotel recommended to us by one of our Tico friends). We had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant and then settled into our rooms with direct views of the volcano right from our beds. Unfortunately, Arenal was socked in by clouds, so the chances for a night viewing of lava looked grim. The hotel does include a "wake up" call to your room if the weather clears and lava is visible. No call came and we drifted off to sleep. Then, we were awakened by the phone ringing at 3:30 in the morning; it was our friend Todd who had conveniently woken up and looked outside to an amazing sight - a clear view of the volcano with a little bit of lava running down the side and hot rocks rolling down and smashing into the side of the mountain spraying sparks high into the air.

Unfortunately, our little point and shoot camera was not able to capture the beauty of the display. So, you will just have to take our word for it! But, we did get some great pictures at sunrise of the volcano. Later that morning, we went hiking at the national park right below the volcano, getting more good looks at the rocks rolling down the side of the mountain at incredible speed. Then, as we started our hike back to the car, the volcano surprised us again and let loose with a big mushroom cloud of gas straight up. Fortunately, we did manage to get a picture of that.

We then returned to the hotel to swim at the pool, which was quite relaxing. After spending the night at our planned hotel (quite comfortable and MUCH less expensive), we met up with Todd and Nancy again for a hike to the Rio Fortuna waterfall. The pictures kind of speak for themselves. The force of the water coming down from a height of 210 feet is amazing. You can only get so close before the water pushes you back. It was very refreshing. After a little lunch, we headed back to our house (no accidents this time) to get ready for another school/work week and Todd & Nancy headed on to Monteverde to continue their adventure.

---

Photos

Arenal at sunrise
we are pretty sure that is Venus rising above it