This weekend was awesome!! So fun...so pretty...and I learned a ton. We went to Arenal and La Fortuna Waterfalls, about 4 or 5 hours away from San Jose. It's funny because San Jose is about the size of North Carolina, but it takes forever to get anywhere because it's all mountains and virtually all of the roads are one lane each way. So you get stuck behind a semi truck or in a construction zone, and you can just go ahead and add an extra hour or two to your trip. Anyhow, it was amazing!! We got to swim in the pool below the waterfall (it was freezing, but really fun!), and Saturday night we went to some hot springs and got to be there for quite some time. That was really nice. Sunday morning we took a tour up to the volcano. First of all, we were staying in a resort that was practically at the base of the volcano and we had a perfect view of it. Also, we had the fortune to be able to see all the way to the top-there are almost always clouds covering it, but we had a clear view the whole time we were there!! So Sunday we went to the other side, where most of the activity is happening right now. We hiked about half an hour until we reached the spot where lava flowed about 15 years ago. We actually stood on the lava and took pictures of the small eruptions on the volcano! Our guide said that there are always eruptions happening and it was actually pretty dangerous to be where we were. We thought that was pretty cool. :-) During the day, all you see is white smoke, and we were really pulling to see an eruption at night, but when it got dark the top was covered by a cloud. Oh, well-we still got to see more than most people do!! It was a great experience!!!
This is on the way there. Some of the hills and drop-offs look like they could have been the place where they filmed the scene in Princess Bride where Buttercup pushes Westley down the hill. This one, for example. :-)
OK...the one above this one is La Fortuna Waterfall from far away...before the vertical hike down to the pool. The one directly above is a picture of the waterfall up close. Notice the clear water around it!
View of the volcano from our resort-the smaller cone is not as active as the one with smoke coming out of it
View of the volcano from the North side (I think)-where you can only see one cone. It looks like a kid's science project!
The lava from the flow in the 90's and the vegetation that is beginning to grow through it
Us on the lava-these are some of the people from my program. Behind us is el Lago Arenal, an artificial lake. There used to be a town under it, but when the volcano blew up for the first time in 1968, it destroyed the village. They built this lake over it and it's one of the main energy suppliers for the country. It's very low right now because it hasn't rained in a long time, and that's what was causing the power outages last week.
This is on the way there. Some of the hills and drop-offs look like they could have been the place where they filmed the scene in Princess Bride where Buttercup pushes Westley down the hill. This one, for example. :-)
View of the volcano from our resort-the smaller cone is not as active as the one with smoke coming out of it
View of the volcano from the North side (I think)-where you can only see one cone. It looks like a kid's science project!
The lava from the flow in the 90's and the vegetation that is beginning to grow through it
1 comment:
WOW Becca! What an awsome opportunity you have to see and do things that most people only dream about. The pictures are incredible and yet I know that they don't begin to do justice to the feeling and experience of actually being there. We love you and still pray for you.
Love Dad
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