Our last group trip was to the Arenal Volcano, the biggest, baddest, most active volcano in Costa Rica. The rain accompanied us all the way to La Fortuna (the small town below Arenal), and our first glimpse of the volcano was only half of it, with the top covered by thick clouds. The resort, Los Lagos, is huge, and we had rooms on the second level above the pools and spa, so we discovered we had a steep walk down an unlit path to get to the pools. Our restaurant, however, was just across the parking lot. We had no excursions planned here, although some of the students arranged for waterfall rappelling or walks into town. I stayed put because there was so much other stuff to do.
This resort has beautiful gardens, so everyday I'd say hello to the large crocs, the little frogs, the butterflies, and birds that were all over the grounds (crocs, frogs, and butterflies in enclosures) and just enjoy the beautiful flowers, the quietness and beauty of the running water and fresh air.
Once during Saturday, we saw glimpses of the top of the volcano since the weather had cleared a bit (see above), but by that evening and Sunday, the clouds and rain were back, and unfortunately, there were no fireworks during the weekend. But we made the best of our time there. The students and I lolled around in the cold pools, the warm pools, and the hottest ones. Fake rocks, and probably not mineral water, but certainly relaxing. The students fell in love with the pool bar (of course) and the several slides. I tried a couple of the slides, and they were fun! Three students and I had spa treatments: mini-massage, mini-facial, and volcanic mud wrap. Very different from the very privacy-dominated spas in the US. Here you take everything off--no modesty allowed--get slathered with mud goop, get wrapped in cellophane, and left to "cook" for about 15 minutes. Facial is done during this process. Shower and then massage (a pretty rough one, too, for our weary bodies. I think we all hurt a little afterwards, but pretty soon were very relaxed).
We discovered a toucan in a tree on the road to our hotel block and visited him/her often. The second time I went, the toucan flew into a tree and started making pitiful sounds. Another toucan flew in to its rescue. Maybe they had a nest in the tree. We saw them several times during our stay. I tried to capture one in a picture, but it's a little blurry.
On Sunday morning I hiked 2 km up to the observation point and was able to see the part of the mountain where the lava had carved out, but no top of the mountain or lava. I met a couple of nice folks and we hiked back down with a herd of cows on their way for a morning rendezvous with the bulls in the next field. On the way down we spotted a smallish brown and black patterned snake. We all jumped back but realized that it was dead (and had not been there on the way up). I snapped a picture, and the way back home, the driver and our guide looked at it, made awful faces, and told me it was a terciopelo. I had no idea what that was, but I looked it up when I got home, and I believe they were right, although we know it by another name: Fer-de-lance. Not comforting, but at least it was dead.
We enjoyed a sunny drive home through beautiful but winding countryside. Even though we were disappointed with not seeing the volcano "doing its thing," we marveled at the diversity of wildlife and flowers inthis place, and really enjoyed a relaxing weekend before the final 2 weeks of presentations, projects, and exams.
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