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One of the vibrant plants growing in the crater... Today was jam-packed!
In the morning, we set off to visit the Irazu Volcano. We were originally set to visit the Poaz Volcano but our tour guide decided that this would have a better view, as Poaz had clouds rolling in. On our way up the mountain, the bus stopped, as the guide had spotted an erupting volcano in the distance. This was awesome to see, as you could vaguely see the smoke and magma in the distance!
When we reached our destination, we were settled right into a crater of the volcano. Apparently, the volcano hasn't erupted since the early 90's, but is still considered an active volcano. The area was beautiful, but almost martian-like (or what I would imagine Mars to look like).
Venturing in further and exploring the area proved to be a treat. There was a spectacular view of the Costa Rican landscape, and looking below our peak, there were gorgeous waters of all different colors. The plant life was also pretty amazing. Some plants had leaves that spanned my height and others that had beautiful colors. I walked around with Jamie, Brian and Maria for a while, with Juan teaching us about the
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Beautiful waters nestled within the volcano. area and also impressing us with his knowledge of seven different languages.
The fog then decided to roll in, engulfing the entire crater. We ended up leaving a bit early, heading down to our next destination: the American Embassy.
When we were again within the streets of San Jose, we saw power our all over the town and the streets were flooded with people. Wondering what was happening, we soon discovered that there had been a massive earthquake, centered at the Poaz Volcano (where we were originally supposed to be at that very moment!). The earthquake ended up doing some structural damage to the buildings (including our hotel) and there were a few fatalities at the volcano itself. Needless to say, everyone was thankful that we ended up at a different volcano and leaving earlier than planned, otherwise it could have been a dire situation.
Maybe it was because we were driving at the time or maybe because we are Californian... the quakes didn't phase us a bit.
We arrived at the embassy and had to wait before entering, as the building had been evacuated from the quake. We were not allowed into the building and
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Our tour guide Juan, and I. instead sat at the embassy steps and spoke with some of the staff, one of whom had graduated from Chico State and was working abroad in Costa Rica. The embassy workers talked about the political climate of Costa Rica, international issues, and career opportunities.
After the embassy, we headed back to the hotel to survey the damage done by the quake and made sure to contact our family members to let them know we were safe. They had heard about the quake and were definitely concerned, but obviously relieved to know that we were okay.
After dinner, we had a little bit of free time, so some of us wandered up and down the streets, looking at the stores and street vendors. Heather was wanting to get a tattoo on her ankle of the "Pura Vida" saying, but was unable to find a tattoo parlor who would get the lettering the way she wanted it. The group spent the evening in the hotel bar and hung out with each other around the hotel. We had some great laughs and conversations on another Costa Rican night!
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