Posts Tagged ‘volcano’

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

We went to see Arenal Volcano simply because Arenal volcano is one of the most famous volcanoes in Costa Rica. Full stop. It is also popular due to the fact that it is still an active volcano after its last eruption in 1968. We had amazing views of Arenal volcano while we were driving around Arenal lake. It looked absolutely gorgeous.

There are plenty of hotels situated next to volcano, most of them located near a town called La Fortuna.  The closest hotel to the volcano is the Arenal Volcano Observatory Lodge.  Unfortunately it was booked a month in advance, therefore we chose to stay in Mountain Paradise Hotel (my review of this hotel is here) which like many others offered volcano and lava view rooms. It is true that it is possible to see lava in the night BUT only if it is clear. Unfortunately, most of the time it is not clear, which is why we saw neither lava nor volcano as all of the area was covered in clouds during the whole evening and also the morning we stayed.

There are plenty of activities near the volcano: mineral baths, hiking and canopy tours. I was not too disappointed that I didn’t even have a chance to see Arenal volcano because I was aware of the circumstances. Maybe someone else is going to be luckier that I am?

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Journey to Poas Volcano

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Poas volcano is situated about forty kilometers away from San Jose (about an hour drive if you don’t get lost somewhere in between). I must admit that the signs for the Poas volcano are everywhere you can dream of. In Costa Rica, where signs are like an endangered species, it is quite an achievement! The reputation of being the one of the easiest volcanoes (or craters) to get to was fairly given. You need to drive all the way to the top, pay $10 per person as an entrance fee and $3 for parking and then walk about 5 minutes on a handicap accessible road to see the crater. How simple is that?!

It gets very cloudy there and the crater itself also lets steam out, therefore, it is often impossible to see the crater behind. I was lucky enough to see a small part of the crater before the clouds covered it completely. There is also a path from the crater which leads to a lake, where nothing can survive due to acidic water. Walking upwards to this lake is not an easy walk because you are 3000 meters above sea level and the air is very thin. There is nothing exciting to see at the lake as it looks just like a normal lake.

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Mountain Paradise Arenal, or Mosquito Paradise Hotel :)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

I really enjoyed my time in the Mountain Paradise Hotel near Arenal volcano. We reserved a standard room. Firstly, we had a great view of the volcano from the hotel room. Unfortunately, we could not use it due to the clouds which led to the rain the following morning. The rooms as well as hotel lobby and restaurant were designed in an ethnic manner.

I have to describe the bathroom separately as it was something I have never seen before. Basically, you get both a normal shower with a glass door AND you can have a shower which imitates a waterfall. What is also amazing is that all the plants in the bathroom imitating the tropical forest are not fake. So you can actually have a very pleasant shower experience by trying out both showers like I did. I also liked the design of bed and an elephant on my bed made with a towel. You should though expect a lot of mosquitos there. My poor boyfriend was literally attacked when he went on the balcony to sit down.

The territory of the hotel was kept very well. I even went to take a camera to take a couple of pictures of the gardens, what I never do in hotels. The pools were warm and pleasant, lovely water bar area… The only minus is the food in the restaurant. The dinner was quite pricy and not anything special. What I did not like is when we just entered the restaurant the waiter opened a bottle of water without asking… and then we saw a $4 charge on the bill for it. I simply find it wrong.

The breakfast buffet though was really good, even a fresh omelet station with a choice of ingredients. A simple touch that makes a difference.

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Tour to Rincon de la Vieja

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

The tour of the volcano Rincon de la Vieja which we decided to book at the local agency included plenty of activities all in one day: zip lining, horse-riding, tubing, hot springs and mud bathing.

Together with transportation and a lunch buffet the cost of the tour was $100 per person and optionally $40 for the photo CD of zip-lining and tubing only.

We were picked up at 6:30 in the morning and by 8 am were already near the volcano. The first activity was the zip-lining. Despite the fact that I was very scared zip-lining appeared to be the least interesting part of the day. There were 23 platforms which we managed to go through in about two hours, most of the time waiting. It seems that there were not enough staff members to make zip-lining smooth and fast. For those who like safety, it was probably the safest activity ever. You are always connected to a wire that won’t let you fall (even of you so desire).

The second part was the tubing and it was considerably more dangerous but it was also so much fun. Everyone had his own tube, sat in the middle of it going through rough mountain water slopes full of stones. Eight miles down the river was amazing. I would not mind to do it again and again.

Later was a lunch buffet which consisted of hot plates, salad bar, juice bar, deserts and fruit. It was delicious for hungry tourists like us and definitely worthwhile.

The horseback-riding was also fun, but also painful. Trying not to jump up and down on a horse is quite a challenge which I unfortunately failed.  I have never done it before so I do have plenty of bruises now on a sensitive part of my body. Still I was amazed by my horse Piojo, he was so patient with me.

After such an active day we all deserved a little bit of a rest and relaxation. Therefore, the next stop was the hot springs. We all went to sauna to warm up :) and continued with putting some mud (which is boiling naturally right in front of you) on each other’s bodies. We let the mud get dry and then took a shower and went to relax in the hot springs. Actually some springs were so hot that I don’t know if anyone is ever using them.

6pm, we are finally ready to go back to Tamarindo…

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