Well last night we watched the volcano from our patio after a nice pasta supper by candlelight in the dining room with a view of the volcano. Not much was going on so we turned in round 10 p.m. and got up about 2:30 a.m. and went to the observation deck at the end of our bldg. The huge boulders we'd been watching were now visible as fireballs racing to the bottom of the mountain. They bounce for hundreds of feet and when they land they break up slightly amidst a fireworks of sparks and then continue their journey to the bottom. It's very hard to get pics or vids but I did manage a few although they're not very good. We watched them for about an hour and then turned in again.
Breakfast was included in our lodging so we got to the dining room about 7:30 and what a feast it was. A buffet with pancakes, sausages, eggs, cheese croissants, orange juice, blackberry juice, lots of fresh fruit, mango juice, and coffee. A great way to start off the day. There was a free tour at 8:30 which we joined in on. It followed the same route we took by ourselves yesterday but the information was our reason for going. There's a guy who lives in a house on the property who made a deal with the owners years ago that he can stay until he dies and then his house and property will revert back to the lodge. The lodge began as a small farm and then in 1968 the Smithsonian Institute used the area and grounds to monitor the volcano which had erupted that year for the first time in over 400,000 years. There are now a total of 4 craters, labeled A,B.C,and D, The last big eruption was last Sept. 18th.
The first year the volcano erupted over 80 people lost their lives and the nearby farms were lost under the debris. The govt. paid the farmers and they moved farther back and began farming again. Years later it was decided to build a dam near the village so the village was moved to a new location and the water now covers the original site. During the dry season the lake lowers and some of the village is visible on the surface.
The portion of the tour we took was quite interesting. We learned that one of the unique trees we saw yesterday is eucalyptus which was imported to be used as telephone poles. The other trees we noticed were pine trees. Neither of these are indigenous to this area and the birds and animals avoid them other than the birds that build the hanging nests. There are two colonies of these birds in the vicinity and each colony is headed by one male and 20 or so females. They build many of the hanging nests in the tops of the eucalyptus but some are decoys to protect the legitimate nests. The main predators are the toucans and the fer de lance snakes which abound in this area. They are extremely poisonous.
There is a small display of the venomous snakes of the area near the entrance to the dining room. There must be over 20 poisonous species around here. We also saw a few more varieties of birds this morning. After a lunch of cheeseburgers and heineken we boarded the "jeep" to the boat. By going by "jeep/boat/jeep" we saved about 6 hours of bussing. The boat took us the length of Arenal lake where we boarded another van to take us to Monteverde. This van had 9 people in it plus all the luggage! It was uphill all the way on roads that make our logging roads look like super highways. Very steep hills and extremely winding. It was like an oven in there and the driver kept stopping, getting out and checking the front tire. We finally made it to a place with a compressor so he filled it up and away we went.
By this time we were in a thunderstorm and the windows were all fogged up which made the trip even more interesting. He dropped everyone off at their respective lodgings and then took us and the van to a gas station where he changed the tires.
Our place is quite a way out of town on a rocky gravel/mud road but quite close to the entrance to the park and hiking trails. Unfortunately although the rain has stopped the trails will probably be too muddy for hiking. No problem we can call a cab to get to town and see what's going on there. The scenery between here and Lake Arenal is unbelievably beautiful with the cleared areas devoted to very green hilly grasslands dotted with cows. Beyond that are rainforests. There are also coffee plantations here so I'm hoping to get some beans to grow.
Gerry I haven't forgotten your pepper seeds so be patient. That's about it for today.
Al & Jo
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29085&l=be6ff&id=680056043
Al Cotton
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