In the shadow of Arenal Volcano

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We chose the jeep-boat-jeep option (3 hrs as opposed to 8 hours via car or bus around the perimeter of the lake) to go from Monteverde to Arenal. One and half hours over very rough gravel roads took us down to the edge of the lake. It was a trip made more interesting by seeing very obious climatic changes in the scenery in a short period of time. We crossed from the dustier, drier Pacific side of the mountains to an obviously much greener Caribbean side. Very hilly country but scenic. There was no boat ramp at the lake - the jeep parked at the waters edge and we waited 20 minutes or so until we saw a boat heading across the lake towards us. In the distance Arenal Volcano loomed on the horizon and it got much larger the further across the lake we went. Great trip - boat trips on lakes always are - almost a private passage as we only had one other person travelling with us. 40 minutes later we arrived - this time at a jetty of sorts - and dragged our suitcases up the bank to a waiting jeep.
We had booked one night at the Arenal Observatory Lodge - it cost our whole daily budget - but as the idea was to see the volcano we figured we may as well sleep a kilometre from it - La Fortuna (the closest town with guesthouses) was 30 kilometres from the volcano. We had no sooner driven through the front gate of the lodge when we decided we had to stay for another night as well. It was beautiful! The grounds covered 12 acres and all the gardens were beautifully landscaped - everything was immaculate! Above it towered the volcano, one of the country’s more active ones (though it had been quiet for the last 4 months as usually you can hear it rumble and see lava flowing down from the top). The lodge had been originally built to house the scientists who studied the volcano. Every year it is still closed for a month to allow them full access to the property. It is also considered one of the prime areas to view birdlife in the country. The local people are worried that the volcano has gone into a dormant phase as such a phase usually comes before a major eruption. The lodge is supposed to be protected from any lava flow as it has a deep gorge between it and the main cone though I’m not to sure you would be safe from poisonous gases!
Our budget room was down the hill towards the lake - an original homestead with half a dozen bedrooms and two shared bathrooms, plus large lounge and verandah. The rooms were very well fitted out and the bathrooms were enormous. As far as we were concerned we had the best view - a full vista of the volcano from our bed and a wonderful lake view from the verandah. We could sit on the lounge in our room and watch the hummingbirds in the flowering plants outside the window - with the volcano in the background. We felt that we had one of the better views in the whole resort. It was certainly peaceful - only birdsong could be heard. On all the external walls of the rooms were wonderful mosaic pictures - showing scenes of Costa Rica - the bird and plant life and natural wonders. It was like an external art gallery - I loved looking at them.
The next two days were very relaxing - we did very little but wander around the many walking trails on the grounds, enjoy the wonderful birdlife and read. The grounds were full of many different coloured hibiscus plants plus every tropical plant you could think of. There was a small museum onsite as well. We enjoyed watching the groups of people (all toting cameras with very long lenses) who were there for the sole purpose of bird watching. We saw many birds, a beautiful red breasted one, a glorious blue bird, the hummingbirds plus a yellow tailed large bird with the loudest wing sound I’ve ever heard. This particular bird built long hanging birdnests from the trees - they actually looked too small to fit the bird in. Late one afternoon we saw a white eagle which the staff said was on migration from Alaska. It was quite funny as all the bird watchers had just left that area to photograph the sunset over the lake when the eagle flew in. It was almost as if he was waiting for them to leave!
The sunsets over the lake were wonderful - first it glowed gold before turning all shades of pink and purple. We had bought picnic food (the guide book said that the meals were not brilliant and the only option was a $30 buffet) so the first evening we ate on our verandah. However the second evening we ate in the restaurant - no buffet was offered anymore - the food was still expensive and not brilliant. Lots of people had bought their own bottles of wine and were drinking it on the terraces from paper cups. The view certainly made up for any shortcomings in the food department however. We haven’t really enjoyed the food here - it seems to be all based on breads (there is literally a baker on every corner) or is fried. Great fresh fruit though and fruit juice drinks.
We debated about staying another night but figured our time in Costa Rica was running out so sadly we caught a taxi to La Fortuna (so pleased that we didn’t stay there - the town consisted of guesthouses, resorts, restaurants and souvenir shops one after the other) and a bus onward to the mountain village of Zarcero. We can highly recommend the Arenal Observatory Lodge - everything (except maybe the food) was first class. A wonderful place to get back to nature in a comfortable setting.

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Photos

A white eagle we saw in a tree at the lodge
This bird was from Alaska

Comments

[Pam]

Happy Easter
Thanks for the blog and hope you have a happy easter and hope the volcano doesn't erupt in your path