Costa Rica 2013

Friday8November

After Irazu volcano, here is Poás volcano! Well, not right away because when we arrive, the fog has kept the smoking crater to itself... sad.gif

In the meantime, we can keep busy by reading the very reassuring sign. chuckle.gif

In case of volcanic activity
1) Stay calm
2) Evacuate quickly
3) In the lagoon, follow the path to the parking lot
4) If you have problems, ask for help
5) If there are eruptions, watch out for falling rocks

Fortunately, there aren't many risks, the last eruption dates back to January 25, 1910! hot.gif

We therefore fall back on the lagoon that fills the neighboring crater. For this, we cross a wood that immediately plunges us into a children's tale where spells are just waiting to bewitch us...doubt.gif

But apart from the giant poor man's umbrellas (gunnera sp.), there's nothing else to see...

So we return to the main crater and finally the fog begins to lift, revealing the small smoking lake.

Only a sulfur fumarole emerges from the crater filled with an acidic lake (Laguna Caliente)

Detail of the edge of the acid lake

One plant still resists the acidic atmosphere: the "poor man's umbrella" (gunnera sp.)

Now that the weather is good, we can go back to see the neighboring crater and its Botos lake.

And finally, a timelapse (accelerated sequence of photos) of the lake and its friendly tourists.  

There you go, one more volcano in our pocket, and another one that didn't explode...  But it's already noon and our next mission is to find a "soda". Mission accomplished with this charming restaurant, so charming that we'll go back on the last day of the trip! It's called "Las Ardillas" on route 120 here: las ardillas!

Delicious meal, and don't miss the very good naturales (drinks with water or milk, crushed ice, and fresh fruit juice).

We leave the restaurant (and the cows) to reach the La Paz waterfalls site, a kind of zoo where it's possible to get close to animals.

But the weather being so bad, we prefer to postpone the visit to a later date. From the road, we will only see the last waterfall that crosses the park.

And since the weather isn't cooperating, we hit the road again for about sixty kilometers to reach the next stop: the town of La Fortuna and the majestic Arenal volcano!