Costa Rica Adventures

Our first Costa Rican hike! This morning, with a packed lunch and wearing our sturdy sandals, we ventured to the private reserve just below the Arenal National Park, about a 20 minute drive away. For a small fee, we were able to hike a 3 mile loop that included a lagoon, forest and lava field. The last major eruption of the volcano was in 1968, when three villages were decimated and 87 people were killed. The volcano continued to be active until 2010, but is now quiet.

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In the first part of the hike, within the forest, we saw and heard lots of birds. Leaf cutter ants were also very active along the trail, so Darcy assigned herself as the “ant crossing guard” to let us know when we needed to be mindful of the ants making their way across the trail. We saw a lagoon created during the 1968 eruption about halfway through the hike. Zoe said the forest felt like something right out of Indiana Jones. It was pretty hot and humid in the trees, as we navigated the trail around large rocks and boulders that were launched out of the volcano.

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We were all pretty hot and tired by the time we reached the summit trail that would take us through the lava field to a view of the volcano. Thankfully we were rewarded when we arrived a the top and the clouds had just moved away from the top of the peak.

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After a quick and rocky descent, we finished the loop and enjoyed our lunch at the trailhead parking area. As we made our way back to the house, driving around the base of the volcano, the clouds returned and it started raining. It was pretty cloudy back at our place, but we were able to spend the rest of the day relaxing by the pool. The clouds did reveal another view of the volcano later in the day.

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There are lots and lots of dogs in Costa Rica, most of which roam freely. We’ve seen just a few on leashes during our time here. One little pup found her way into our yard in the morning and we helped her cross into the yard next door, through an opening in the fence. She looked to have been recently nursing and in the afternoon we discovered that she had a litter of pups in the a drainage tube right next to our fence. We kept an eye on them all afternoon. They were pretty noisy and adventurous.