A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall

5/31/14

Our weekend excursion this week was to Arenal Volcano.  After a four hour bus ride, we arrived, ate lunch, and went to go on a guided hike at the volcano.  I am pretty sure all of us were expecting to be able to hike up the volcano and look into it, however, in reality, our hike was simply in the rain forest at the base of the volcano.  We were informed by our guide that because it is an active volcano, it is not safe to walk close to the volcano, not just because of risk of eruption, but also the gasses that an active volcano sometimes gives off can be deadly.  

Just after we arrived for our hike, it started raining, very hard.  Since we were already wet, we decided to continue on the hike.  Because of the rain, we did not see any wildlife, but we heard howler monkeys, which apparently howl a lot when it storms.  We finished our wet hike, without anyone sliding down a mud hill, or falling (all bets were on me!).

We made our way to the resort, and although it continued to rain without any signs of ceasing, we checked into our rooms and enjoyed our view of the storm and the disappearing volcano from our   front porches.  It amazed me how the volcano could be present one minute, and then look like it was gone in another.  This of course was from the clouds.

 We enjoyed a good dinner and then went back to our rooms.  Most of us decided not to go enjoy the natural hot springs during the storm.  Our rooms were amazing.  The showers had an open roof, where the rain would trickle in down a rock wall.  

After a great night’s sleep, we awoke to the most amazing view of “our” volcano.  We went to breakfast, then enjoyed the hot springs, the pools, and the sun.  After I had enough sun, I returned to our room, took a hot shower (haven’t ha a hot shower in over a week due to a broken shower heater), and then I relaxed and read my book, while enjoying a magnificent view of the volcano.  This was just what I needed to recharge for another week of classes.