Scuba Diving Fishing Land Rafting Xtreme Adventures Things 2DO

RODALES ARTICLES ARTICLES FROM RODALE´S SCUBA MAGAZINE Date: 2006-01-09

On Thursday morning, our guide Rolando Arburola of Costa Rica Dive showed up in a very sturdy and roomy Toyota Land Cruiser. We headed off to Arenal through Liberia and south on the Pan American Hwy. At Rolando’s suggestion we stopped at the airport to pay our departure tax, which saved significant time at the end of the trip.

Next stop was Cañas for lunch at a small restaurant where Rolando recommended one of the giant portions of chicken soup. From Cañas the road went up over the edge of the mountains that ring Arenal Lake. The drive around the lake to Arenal Observatory was very scenic. We made a stop on the way at a coffee and macadamia nut plantation and processing plant. This was the first time that Rolando provided information on prices and quality that we grew to rely on him for. As we closed in on the Arenal Observatory Lodge www.arenalobservatorylodge.com, using a short-cut that was nicer than the main road, Rolando cautioned us to keep our eyes out along the roadside. Sure enough, we soon encountered a coatimundi out looking for snacks. The recently purchased macadamia candy quickly ran out, but “always prepared” Liz pulled out a granola bar from her pack.

The drive up to the observatory was beautiful. As we pulled into the lobby we were speechless at the site of the Arenal volcano rising behind it. We had requested one of the Smithsonian rooms that face the volcano and Rolando surprised us with an upgrade to a junior suite. Rarely do we get a room of this quality on any of our trips. There were two king-size beds and an entire glass wall that looked out toward the volcano. We were fortunate to watch eruptions from our bed on our last night.

We settled in and met in the restaurant for dinner where a table had been reserved at the window. Food was very good and we ate while watching the volcano erupt.

After dinner, we quickly changed into hiking gear and took off for a night hike through the rainforest up to the edges of a recent lava flow. After wading through a small stream we stopped to change shoes and discovered a tarantula watching us. The hike wasn't difficult, taking somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes, and we heard peccaries in the brush and saw orchids that only bloom for a day. Rolando saw a small puma crossing the path, but we were too slow to see it.

Once above the rainforest we started climbing the boulders of the lava flow and setup the cameras to take pictures of the eruptions. You could hear the cracks and booms of the eruptions and bright orange boulders bouncing down the volcano.

A buffet breakfast started day 2, Friday. A resident coatimundi and a number of bright birds were just outside the restaurant, attracted by feeders containing fresh fruit, made for interesting pictures and a great start to the day. Then we were off to the Fortuna waterfall. The hike was steep and took approximately 15 minutes, but a pack of howler monkeys amused us on the way. The waterfall was taller than Bagace Catarata and the pool at its base was rough. Make sure that you get into the water, but stay on he sides of the pool and wear something on your feet. To the left of the path is another pool that is calmer for swimming and wading

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