Blogs from Arenal, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 9

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Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal February 29th 2008

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 ... read more
A cool topiary sculpture at Zarcero - monkey on a motorcycle
Sam's rice volcano with shrimp as the lava
Arenal at sunrise

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal February 5th 2008

Didn't get enough of the volcanoes in Nicaragua so we were off to El Castillo and the Arenal Volcano... Arranged a Jeep-Boat-Jeep transport (more of a Bus-Boat-Bus) to get us there, it's apparently a lot faster than trying just the roads. Basically a bus picked us up at our hotel in Santa Elena, and after about an hour trip we arrived at the Laguna de Arenal where our small ferry was waiting. It was a beautiful day, and the Laguna was amazing...it was about another hour on the water, and about twenty minutes in we rounded a point and there was the Arenal volcano in the distance, amazing! It was quite a sight to see it from the Laguna, with the smoke slowly billowing out of the top and drifting right down to the water... We ... read more
Arenal II
My new friend...
Flower I

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal December 30th 2007

Early on Saturday, December 29th we met up with the McLeod’s at the parque central. With breakfast burritos to eat on the road we set off for Arenal Volcano. Ron wanted to get an early start as the road between Esparza and San Ramon is busy and traffic has a tendency to get backed up. It was our lucky day as Ron easily passed a big logging truck, Lach followed closely behind and we were off. The ride from San Ramon to La Fortuna is a windy, climbing ride and on this day it was a bit overcast. We drove through a bit of rain and even through the clouds at one point as the elevation increased. The scenery was beautiful, even with the slight interruption of Benjamin’s tummy upset and explosion. Mom now remembers every ... read more
Arenal Volcano show us your top
Ariana at Arenal
Lake Arenal behind the kids

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal November 7th 2007

Hello, we are planning to spend x-mas and new year in CR, we are not sure if there are a risk for Malaria i CR, anyone knows? Thanks! Kind regards Sandra... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal October 30th 2007

Fantastic Country. Relaxed on the beautiful beaches on the Carribbean and visited the Central Highlands with lush rainforests and active volcanoes. Driving in Costa Rica leaves a lot to be desired tho! Hope you enjoy a few of our photos of the highlights......... ... read more
toucan
Cute little tree frog
Humming Bird

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal October 10th 2007

Following our action packed day in Monteverde we headed off across the lake to Arenal Volcano area. The transfer was actually not too bad, jeep/boat/jeep although the roads are so bumpy, and really rough so it takes a long time to go a short distance.. We arrived in Arenal and checked into Gringo Pete's hostel - the cheapest one so far, only $4 per person per night for a private room! It started pouring with rain when we arrived so we holed up in the hostel for a while and checked out what there is to do and see. We ended up going to Baldi Thermae hot springs for the afternoon - so decadent! The hot springs are heated naturally by the volcano and its right behind you so you can just sit there and look ... read more
The Giant Jacuzzi!
Very Expensive Cocktails...
Natural Springs from the Volcano Arenal (behind)

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal October 1st 2007

October 1 I'm back in Atenas, hanging out at the Colinas del Sol with Jurgen, the owner. And do I have videos. I've got 'em of Jurgen bargaining with a shop owner, Jurgen being corrected by a Tica about the myth he's been telling everyone about a metal church in Grecia that was supposed to be delivered to Peru but was shipped to Costa Rica in error, and I've got your Costa Rica Karaoke videos. I've been to 3 Karaoke places in 3 nights. It's the happenin' thing around here, and the places are packed. Jurgen is in love with the professional singer who MC's all of them. He's her groupie. And about 60 of these Karaoke revelers sang Happy Birthday to me last Friday. Yesterday, some friends of Jurgen's arrived at the hotel, and we ... read more
Rainbow at Colinas del Sol
Near Grecia
Jo Ha  from Colombia

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal September 3rd 2007

Hola amigos y amigas, Que tal? Hope you are enjoying an excellent extended summer back home ! We also took a summer break.... regarding updating the travelblog. Great for us, not for our (still) worried relatives & friends, especially now with upcoming hurricane Felix (no pasa nada so far...). But now we are back on track ! After a long stay (5 weeks) in fascinating Venezuela we left South America behind us mid- August and continued our way into Central America, with Mexico City as our final destination mid October (snif snif, time is flying ! ). We already spent 2 weeks in easy, friendly & GREEN Costa Rica and currently we are enjoying the beautiful colonial cities of Nicaragua & Honduras. The long time in Venezuela enabled us to take a breath after the full ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal August 31st 2007

Hi everyone, Once again thanks for all the messages, especially the kind words about my photography. It makes lugging my heavy camera around seem worthwhile after all. I will reply as and when I can, but carry on writing even if I can´t reply. Last time I wrote, I was in Cahuita, on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica. On Tuesday we had a trip to a local Indian reserve, called Bri Bri, which is the name of the town, the tribe and their language. Our guide was an eccentric little grey-haired German guy called Willie, who swore like a trouper! We visited a native family, whose ages ranged from 18 months to 107! The house was very basic, hardly any furniture, and certainly no microwave oven in the kitchen. Most of what they eat they ... read more
A bit like a flamingo
Toucan play at that game
A kind of stork

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal August 30th 2007

Here are the pictures we didn't get on the last blog and more.... read more
Teatro National
Inside Teatro National
Museo D'Oro




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