Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day 16: Sabado, 29 Mayo 2010

Today we traveled to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. We arrived around 11 am and what a difference in the climate! You could tell we had descended from the cloud forest. It was close to 90 degrees. We walked around town for about an hour then had lunch at a local spot before checking into the hotel.
We spent a couple of hours walking the trails around the Volcano. We were able to observe 2 families of howler monkeys high up in the trees….mom, dad, and babies. It was so interesting to watch them as they went about their evening routine. We left the trails just before dusk and went to the volcano observation point where we sat for a while watching the lava flow from the mouth of the volcano. It was such a perfectly clear night, we could see the bright red rocks as they tumbled down the side of the mountain.
We had dinner at Baldi Hot Springs and enjoyed the waters of the hot springs for about 2 hours. We then decided to go back to the observation point and watch the volcano. It was a beautiful night with a full moon; we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it again! There were so many people gathered around at the local meeting places. On this second visit, there were mostly local families. I would describe it as a picnic! They had food cooking on grills and were socializing with one another….while in the background….the mountain provided the fireworks! Lava, lava, lava….was being chanted as the fireballs slid down the hillside! It was so exciting! How often can you say that you spent Saturday night watching an active volcano! It was a once a lifetime experience!~

End of day 16……

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