The Arenal

From San José to the Arenal, 21 september
Once again we wake up very early. We had made arrangements that the rental car would be driven up the door at 10 o'clock. But since Thrifty appears to be nearly opposite the hotel we decide to pick it up at 08.30 ourselves.
They are not in a great hurry and we have to read through piles of paperwork and sign them but ultimately we can hit the road in our small Daihatsu Terios.

We see the hotel but it still is quit a job to reach it with all the one-way-streets of San Jose. After we have loaded our luggage we leave with a good heart for Arenal.

This will be an easy trip, we think.... For we just have to drive to the airport and than further along the only speedway of Costa Rica. But apparently San Jose has become so attached to us that it won't let us go.
We can't get out of the city. It is very busy, every crossing has traffic-lights and no directions are indicated. There are no signs what so ever. Besides it is teeming with one-way-streets and suburbs that are all grown together and of which you have no idea that you entered another one. Therefore we have no idea if we're still in San Jose or somewhere else.

We finally take our GPS from the trunk and leave town on compass. Outside the conurbation of San Jose there are enough signs that point the way.

The roads are wretched. The Daihatsu Terios is the most uncomfortable car we have ever driven in. But because rental cars are awful expensive here, we rented the cheapest 4x4. But well, one gets used to everything and finally this thing will take us everywhere we want.

The 110 miles to the Arenal take us about five hours. This is mostly because of the situation in San Jose but also because the tarred roads have lots of potholes. And when it is raining badly, which it often does here, you can't see clearly where the holes are.

Towards sunset we arrive at the Arenal Observatory Lodge where we will stay the next two nights. We have a room with a huge window with view on the Arenal. Our splendid bed stands with the foot-end towards the window so we can enjoy the marvelous view from the bed. And what kind of view: a mighty combination of mist, fog and clouds. We are very curious how close we are to the volcano and how it looks.

Around the Arenal, 22 september
At 5 o'clock we are awakened by the sound of howler monkeys. But we see nothing. (Mist, fog and clouds).

We decide to go for a walk before breakfast over the lodges premises. Soon moving branches betray the presence of monkeys. They appear to be spider monkeys and we stand still for a quit some time to watch their capers. They don't care about our presence and we are astonished over their talent for sky-acrobatics.

On the way to a waterfall the path gets more slippery and steep. We see a couple of coatis and some kind of forest turkey. Upon closer inquiry this appeared to be a Guan. After we have visited the, not particularly spectacular, waterfall it is time to go back to the lodge if we still want to eat breakfast.

Breakfast once again contains of scrambled egg, beans and rice, sausages, pancakes, fruit and fruit juices. At the Mawamba lodge it was the same but nicer. Apparently the cook can add something special by which it tastes different. Here I find eggshell in my scrambled egg but I can't appreciate this addition.

After breakfast we go for another walk, after all it still is only 08.30. We take the “Old Lava Trail” that has the qualification "difficult". But even with our limited condition it turns out better than was expected. This trail consists of such a narrow path that we think we better had taken a chopper. But we only have our umbrellas with us. We continue and try not to think about all the snakes and creatures that might be under the vegetation, since you absolutely cannot see where you step.

Finally we end up at a river. In view of the name of this trail we suppose that this river originates from an old lava gully. Indeed we see lava rocks. Of course we swipe some small ones for our rock collection.

The path runs steep up over the same trail. But it is not as bad as it seems. We stand still very often to watch something. In this case it's mostly insects that attract our attention. We see a glasswing butterfly which has completely translucent wings. When I have to tie my shoe-lace I notice that I almost stand on a walking stick.

We also see a lot of leaf-cutting ants. We don't take kindly to ants but these are very interesting. Especially now we have read about the manner of life of these animals, they can grip us for a long time. They toil and moil with comparatively very large leaves and when one almost falls down another comes to help. We also see ants carrying a leaf with three smaller ants on it. These are to prevent that other insects lay eggs on the leaves. The ant tracks are about 4 inches wide and unimaginable long. Meanwhile we know that these ants carry the leaves to their huge underground nests of up to 200 square meters, where the leaves serve as compost for the fungus they eat. In Costa Rica about 15% of the total leaf harvesting is the work of these ants and they are a pest to farmers.

In the afternoon it starts to rain and thus we drive to La Fortuna. Between the clouds we see large wreaths of smoke coming out of the top of the volcano. The residents are probably used to live so close to an active volcano but we find it a weird idea.

No sunshine follows the rain but now and than the volcano shows itself. We now see that the lodge is very close to it and every now and than we see smoke and hear a sound as of thunder.

During dinner Elvis visits the lodge. One of the waiters, who already had a striking resemblance to Elvis, appears to be a true Elvis imitator. He takes his guitar and comes to sit at the tables to sing. It sounds very good. A while later another waiter points out an orange glow at the dark sky. This comes from a lava flow. We don't see much but we find it very spectacular. We didn't expect to see something like that because the lava flow itself is out of side of the Arenal Observatory Lodge.

We cram our food in our mouth and drive in twenty minutes, over a dark road like cheese with holes, around the volcano. Unfortunately clouds once again block the view.

Stay in La Fortuna, 23 september
This morning we sleep late till about 6 o'clock. When we open our eyes the volcano stretches itself out in full glory in front of our bed. This is a spectacular awakening!

Unfortunately pretty soon I find out that I am hit by Montezuma’s Revenge. We have to change our plans and there is nothing to it than to stay in La Fortuna. Because of financial reasons but also because we're tired of the Arenal Observatory Lodge after two nights, we decide to search for a less remote shelter.

Luckily we find a beautiful Bed & Breakfast, Posada Colonial. It lies separate in the gardens of the owners. It has a balcony with magnificent view on the active site of the volcano that today is actually cloudless. Besides the door is open so we can already have a view. Alas, no-one is home so we decide to wait. Meanwhile I have turned into a volcano about to erupt and I can't keep up. Seeing that we want to take this room, and the toilet is very appealing, I decide to occupate it to begin with.

That relieves for a little while but I feel more and more miserable and it can take hours, or even days, before the owners arrive. It makes no sense to wait much longer, I need an accommodation now! Therefore we decide to put up at a cabina of Miradas Arenal which lies on the other side of the road. I hope the owners of Posada colonial will forgive me the inauguration of their toilet. I can't ask them since I will never see them again.

Miradas Arenal is a complex of three cabinas on a large meadow that is part of a farm. The farmer doesn't speak English, just: “One night, 40 dollar. Two nights is ok. No cheque, no credit card”. Well that's enough, we stay. The other cabinas are not taken so we're about alone in the world, just outside of La Fortuna. Every now and than the farmer passes by as a real cowboy on horseback, with a herd of cows.

From the porch we have a spectacular view on the volcano. Probably the best of entire La Fortuna and surroundings. The cabina has a bathroom in some sort of greenhouse, so from the bath and from the pot you won't have to miss the view. That is very opportune since I spend a lot of this day in the bathroom. Luckily there is no-one around since the view from outside to the inside is equally surprising.

The volcano stays unclouded until about 8 PM. We stay on the porch the whole day. Little reading, little playing games, little watching volcano, what a life....

During daylight we regularly see the lava move down as a gray flow, by which the flanks are steaming. As the sun disappears, this spectacle undergoes a metamorphosis. The once grey lava starts to glow, and when the sun doesn't beam one light anymore, bright red fireworks come down. Not continuously, but regularly. Every now and than some lava blows into the air but usually it forms a flow down. If this is already so beautiful, a real eruption, like on the well known pictures, most be very special. But even without an eruption it is very surreal to be so close to an active volcano.

Day trip to Caño Negro, 24 september
At 07.30 we have to be at the office of Jacamar Naturalist Tours for our day trip to Caño Negro. The other tourists are all picked up at their hotel. But Hans didn't know yesterday how our huts are called, so we have to drive there ourselves. The group contains of nine Americans and us.

On the way to Caño Negro we pass by a restaurant where they feed iguanas. The restaurant lies next to a river and this way the iguanas are lured inside. We don't exactly like these kinds of things but let's say that you can easily photograph them. Besides, these are free animals and not in captivity. Still I liked the iguana that I saw in the tree on the way here, a lot more interesting.

We also meet some jabirus. We see them from far away but our guide is very enthusiastic because the jabiru is very threatened. There hasn't been one jabiru in the last five years until these emerged a couple of weeks ago.

In Los Chiles we step into a boat and float over the Rio Frio. Underway the boat ties up on a bank and we all have to eat our lunch standing up or sitting on a log. The foot is prepared by the mother of the boatman and very good. It is kept warm in large ice chests and despite this contradiction that succeeds very well. The boy is very proud of his mom's cooking and enjoys the compliments we give him.

Besides he appears the have a good eye for the smallest animals that hide in the shadow. We see a lot of birds, lizards, caymans, monkeys and a sloth. We also stand eye to eye to a group of bats but no tourist sees them. After explanation it appears that they are right in front of our nose. They lay flat with their bellies against a tree. Moreover they are very well camouflaged and only two inches tall. No-one expects that.

Our guide probably meets with a lot of Dutch tourists because especially for us (in that party of Americans) he says all the animal names in Dutch: “Slan-ge-hals-vo-gel”. He also makes that a Jesus Christ Lizard doesn't belie to its name. It runs over the water which is a very funny sight.

Finally we float over a flooded area. In the rainy season this is even more flooded. We thought that we are here at the peak of the rainy season but apparently the water is now falling again. It still is very pretty.

After we return in La Fortuna we spend some time at the small internet cafe and after dinner we can enjoy another evening full of action of the unclouded volcano.

Next: Rincón de la Vieja