The Visitors

Between loss of internet, Sharon and Niall’s visit and our trip to Manuel Antonio, I’ve been knocked quite out of my routine regarding the weekly emails. I’m determined to get back to normal and apologise for the break!

Arenal
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Sharon and Niall had a great time in La Fortuna and at the hot springs and the Arenal volcano. The risky thing about going to see Arenal is that the combination of the heat of the volcano and the humidity means that the mountain is often shrouded in cloud. Sharon and Niall were very lucky and saw the entire mountain except for a little part at the top. The activity is constant, but difficult to see in daylight. As the light faded in the evening they got a great view of the hot orange rocks tumbling down the mountain and breaking like fireworks.

They also visited the hot springs at Tabacón, and really loved them.

Manuel Antonio
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I got a couple of days off work and swapped a Saturday, which meant that myself and Jack could travel down to Manuel Antonio with Sharon and Niall on the Wednesday and stay until Sunday. The direct bus was full, so we had to book tickets on the ‘colectivo’, which is the slow local bus which stops everywhere, making the journey quite an ordeal.

It’s really hot on the coast at the moment. Myself and Jack were staying at a cheap hostel and the fan circulating warm air felt like a hair dryer! We swapped for the luxury of an air conditioned room for the final night.

Highlights of the trip included our visit to the national park where there were more sloths than I’d ever seen, and the monkeys went through Niall’s bag and stole his camera battery.

Dry season
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I could really see the difference in Manuel Antonio at the end of the dry season compared with my trip with Rita in January. The rivers had almost completely dried up. We went on a walk in the national park to the waterfall. The first sign said “Waterfall trail – 1km”, so we decided that would be worth it. After a kilometre we saw another sign saying “Welcome to the start of the waterfall trail – Waterfall 1.2km”. The sign also warned that we’d need to traverse rivers and that it was a difficult trail. But that we were guaranteed to get wet, have a smile on our faces and have our spirits lifted.

However, every river we crossed was bone dry, and when we got to the waterfall after a tough trek through the rain forest, it too was bone dry. So we didn’t get wet, but I guess we did have a laugh, so smiles and raised spirits if no water.

On Saturday night we had a heavy tropical rainstorm, and the next day you could see all the rivers beginning to flow.

Happy Birthday, Jack
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It was Jack’s birthday on Monday, and he’s now the owner of a new guitar. He’s currently practising and shredding his fingers on the strings. To celebrate his birthday we went for a meal with Sharon and Niall in the local Italian restaurant.

More volcanic activity
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Since we arrived we’ve been planning a visit to the Poás volcano. I’m not sure how long it takes to get there, but you can get a regular commuter bus to it. It was last active in the early 90s and now has a beautiful azure blue lake in the crater. It’s the most popular tourist attraction near San José.

Until last Friday week that is. That’s when, with absolutely no warning, the lake started spurting water 50m into the air. The activity continued the next day, and the park is closed now until they do further tests to establish exactly what’s happening.
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Well, that’s it for another week. We’re coming up to our last week before ‘Semana Santa’ or Holy Week, when the country closes down. And I promise my updates will revert to their previous regularity!