Tuesday February 1, 2005

This morning it is time to move on from Monteverde.  It seems impossible to believe that we have been gone this long and how fast the trip is moving.

Darby & Grayson & friend "Sandy" aka "Puppy"

I checked us out and the lodge was nice enough to give me a 15% discount since I paid in cash.  The kids are going to miss the lodge dog, "Puppy".   They have really enjoyed playing with the golden retriever for the past few days.  Before they knew the dog’s name was "Puppy", they had been calling her “Sandy”.  She loved to fetch the sticks they threw for her and she loved jumping in and out of the fountain outside our mountain suite shaking and spraying water all over the kids.  When the kids would come inside the suite, Puppy would sit right by the door until they came out again.

We said good-bye to “Puppy-Sandy” and headed out of Monteverde.   We video taped part of the drive out of town because no one would believe how bumpy the road was.  It was like driving on the moon!   The potholes are too unbelievable to describe!  We grabbed some pastries at Stella’s and kept going.  Today we are heading to Volcano Arenal.  It is only about 20 kilometers as the crow flies from Monteverde but because of the terrible roads we had to drive all the way around Lake Arenal to get there.  It was about a four hour drive.  During that time the weather changed numerous times from hot and sunny to rainy and cold and back again.  It was a gorgeous drive though and we were happy to have had that experience.   We stopped at a German bakery in a small town along the lake and had fresh hot pretzels and a drink.  We also found a cute gift shop where I got a stain glass souvenir of a frog to put in my kitchen window at home to remind me of the trip!

The Arenal Observatory Lodge

We arrived at Arenal Observatory Lodge at about 1:30 pm.  Our room was all ready.  We are staying in the Smithsonian Room 16.  The room has a king size and a queen size bed in it both facing a giant plate glass window.  Outside the window is the most stunning view of Volcano Arenal in the background and beautifully manicured gardens in the foreground.  The volcano is quite near the lodge but because of a deep chasm separating it from the lodge, it is quite safe.  Originally the lodge was used by scientist from the Smithsonian studying

Map of Arenal (click to enlarge)

volcanic activity.  Eventually it was turned into a lodge for nature lovers.  We settled into our room and then set off to explore.  The paths leading around the lodge were so pretty and landscaped with lots of different beautiful flora.  We walked to the other lodge and saw a working seismograph and a tiny museum showing how the equipment is used.  From there we followed the path to the pool.  The pool had a gorgeous backdrop of forest behind it and had a disappearing edge.  It was a little chilly to swim so we got into the enormous hot tub which was covered with a gazebo.  The kids went back and forth jumping into the freezing pool and then warming up in the hot tub.  It began to rain a little and it was a pleasant afternoon of relaxing. 

It had stopped raining by the time we headed back to our room so we changed out of our bathing suits and hiked a path to a waterfall that is on property.  It was a 20 minute fairly easy hike to the waterfall.  The kids loved playing on the rocks but finally the mosquitoes forced us to retreat to our room!

Images from around Arenal Observatory Lodge (click to view)

After cleaning up in the room we headed to the main lodge which included a restaurant.  We had to cross a tiny suspension bridge to get there – very cool!  We were there a bit early and the restaurant wasn’t yet opened so the kids and Mark played chess in the lodge.  The room has windows on all sides and the view is great.  It is amazing though – even though the volcano is literally right there, sometimes the fog and clouds hide it completely!  I relaxed and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  Once the restaurant opened we grabbed a table anxious to eat.  We have been starving during this trip.  For dinner the kids resorted to spaghetti again and I had a typical vegetarian Costa Rican meal which was delicious.  Mark had some kind of steak – TIP: don’t attempt to eat the meat in Costa Rica – it is very suspect!   For desert Mark had cheesecake, Darby had a piece of cake and Grayson had a banana split – with a little help from mom!

We turned in early as has been our routine this trip.  We had a natural tour of the volcano planned for the morning.  After all the lights were out I opened the curtain in case the volcano erupted in the night.  At 4:51 AM, I heard a loud bang and a huge puff of smoke coming out of the volcano.  It was perfectly clear at that time of the morning.  I woke everyone up to see!  We didn’t get to see any lava because the lava tends to flow down on the other side of the volcano because that side is lower.  It was so neat to be lying in bed and to see the volcano shooting out smoke for the top.  Eventually we all drifted back to sleep.

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