Costa Rica Part 1

Costa Rica

So, This summer I found the one, yes "the one". And was married this September in Mesa, Arizona. Celin is a Boise local, and she loves horses. Oh yeah, you think another girl that likes pretty horses. Well this one actually trains the race horses at the local race track. She has been great with the kayaking, camping end of things, and now I have a new best friend for life.

Enough of the mushy stuff. So for our honeymoon we decided on Costa Rica. This was going to only be a 5 day trip, so I decided to forgo kayaking. (The other side of me says "whats wrong with you, your second time to C.R. and no kayaking???") We went to see an active volcano. Volcan Arenal is located about a days drive north from San Jose. I rented one of those euro style cars, (the ones with the doughnut size tires) and headed out on the pothole laden roads. The excitement of seeing one of the things that I had wrote in my black book, mixed with honeymoon sent me off in the wrong direction for a 1.5 hour detour that ended up where we started.

If there is one thing that I learned about driving in Costa Rica, it was that you need to know the names of cities. If you want to go to La Fortuna, you first must know that you need to go towards San Ramon, then towards Valle Azul, then Tigra, and so on. Forget highway 1. You will never see a sign that says highway1, even though it is their main freeway system. You must first dodge potholes. Some potholes are the size of a basketball, and some are the size of your car. If you wreck the rental car in any way, they charge the whole car to your credit card. (you have to take it up with Visa) Once you are comfortable on the highway, swerving around potholes so deep that you cant see the bottom, add mountains, then fog. The Tilaran cloud forest is in route to volcan arenal. By the time we made it to La Fortuna, it was dark, we were tired, and we still hadn't got a room.

I have been wanting to see active lava for years, and I couldn't bare getting a room, setteling down, then going out and seeing the lava. (You can only see it at night) I knew that we would be interested in other things. (Like Sleep:) So I dragged Celin to the remote side of the mountain, where we heard it was coming down. The volcano sometimes is covered in a cloud for weeks at a time, but we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse. We saw some cars stopped by the side of the road, and asked where you go to see the lava. We were informed just wait here. It wasn't long when the volcano started shooting red hot rocks the size of cars dowm the mountain at literally 100 miles per hour. The rocks would smash against other rocks and explode into a fiery red display of sparks and sound. I had expected only to see gooey lava flowing down the mountain, I got much more. Soon the mountain was covered with a cloud and the fireworks dwindled to only sound. So Celin and I hopped back into the car and headed up to see if we could find a better view.

The dirt road that we were travelling on started up the mountain, and soon a guard tower appeared. The guard said that the road ended up at an observatory, and that the entrance fee was $6.00 each. We paid hoping for a better view, only to find out that the mountain clouds would not be subdued. As we were leaving we decided to stop into the gift shop. As I was talking to the attendant, I noticed a sign talking about the rooms. He was about to close up for the night, and offered uus a deal we couldn't refuse. The room was little more than a big box with a cement floor, a small bathroom, 2 single beds pushed together, and a window that was 10 foot long, and 8 foot tall. We settled in for the night.

About 1am we both woke up to high clouds and the volcano going off. We watched in amazment through our "big screen" window. The volcano spouted off for hours. I took a few pics. It was absolutely amazing. When we woke up the next morning it was nothing less than spactacular. There was immaculate landscaping, beautiful overlooks, butterflys, and bird life everywhere. The continental breakfast had fresh juices, fruits, and meats. I had the fresh mango juice, some fresh pineapple and as much meat and eggs as I could eat.

After breakfast we headed off to take some waterfall hikes. The pictures below dont do it justice. I brought my digital camera, but not the memory card. I am still beating my head against the wall for that one. The pictures below are from my slide camera.