We start our trip, has usual, in a unowned airport followed by the spooky taxi ride thought town, nothing special until here! Going thought the busy streets on the end of a week day you can feel the pulse of city, old cars mixed with high gas consumption American cars surf the streets in a very usual south American way, the random freestyle!! Like every city, and almost every trip we do, we end-up going thought the most ruff neighbourhoods on the first hour on location, gives you the view of what can be the worst scenarios possible. Haitians holding building with their backs while strange sales was the dish of the day, but OK. Don't be impressed by the look of it, it can only get better!!
Our hotel, based on the perimeter of the city, was fantastic located in front of the trendiest restaurant in town, great atmosphere and great great food! Pasta, pollo in all the ways that you can imagine a fantastically tasting pollo should be and lots and lots of other choices that just by talking of it makes me go back..
The morning sun light reveals a city with vague borders only delimited by the volcano's to the north and east, the quiet of the dawn streets is switched the bumping roads that leads to the Caribbean coast. Half way, awaits the boat that will take us to Tortuguero thought the flooded jungle. Tortuguero is a all tourism dependent town, once known-ed for the easy sea turtle meat ( Tortuguero means turtle hunter ) due to it's location, right next to the beach where thousands of green sea turtles come and lay their eggs in such numbers that can get up to 2000 turtles in one night!!
Splendid water channels spread in every direction, trees burst full of life, birds, iguanas, monkeys can be seen and heard anywhere, you need a canoe and a pair of strong arms, or you can take the power boat, but just for the lazy ones. Nature surrounds you and the felling of being a piece of the puzzle is much more that the concept sold by environmentalists, it's in fact what we really are, just a piece of what surround us and not it's owner.
A good felling is to wake up hearing at a distance the hauling monkeys claiming their territory, in the wild, be wild. Put on some rubber boots and enter deep rain forest thought trails where the you can hear but you can't see is the challenge, spotting thorough the thick green and mosquito populated air is most of the times a matter of luck. Monkeys, butterflies and colourful poisons frogs where spotted, some a rare view.
After two days it was time to move on, we left the Caribbean shark and crocodile infested waters and trade it for please of pure, hard and fun 4x4 driving. Destination: Arenal volcano's area.
We arrived to the volcano area and we're surprised by a small Las Vegas town on the base of the volcano. Piling up on every side of the road volcano view announcements try to get tourists to many of this hotels. Ours was just a group of small houses with a in fact volcano view from the bet it self. Putting the alarm clock to 3 AM just to see if the lava is visible is one of the advised nocturnal activities.
This is the most active volcano in Costa Rica and on a good day the red lava explosions can be seen and heard from a great distance.
The scenario couldn't be better on the edge of the tree lines a huge smoking volcano dominated the landscape. Rocks expelled from the volcano can reach the size of cars and can been seen naked eye smoking down the mountain. The last eruption was in 1992 and the fresh lava can be walked by visitors to reach one of the highest point to observe the volcano in action.
To be continued.......
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