Volcano Vipersssss
Today, it was time to conquer the active volcano, Arenal! Ok, so this might be a bit dramatic. What we were really doing was hiking up an active volcano. Not with lava and such, of course, but it was active.
That morning, we got in a van that took us to the volcano. On the way there, we stopped at a tree that a group of people had gathered around. If you thought that hiking up an active volcano couldn’t get more dangerous, think again. As we stepped out of the van, we quickly realized that we were standing directly under a viper. “Well, nice knowing you world.” I thought. Just kidding! It was pretty freaking awesome! You know you are having fun when someone screams each time a snake moves. We left and continued onto the volcano.
The volcano was really steep. My legs weren’t ready for what was a comin’ to em’. Oops, sorry, I guess a bit of my southern is coming out. The hike took about an hour and a half to get to the top and maybe thirty minutes to get back down.
On the way up, we saw lots of plants. (Fun fact: volcano ash is actually great for plants to grow in.) One of the plants dried up when you touched it and after a minute or so, it would come back to life. So cool! We also saw a few snakes and some birds, but we weren’t allowed to touch those. I wonder why, oh well. One hour later, we finally reached the top of that thing.
The top of the volcano was purely rocks. Ladies, I know you hate them, but tennis shoes are NECESSARY for traveling. There were all sorts of warning signs up there “BEWARE OF LAVA”, “DANGER: ACTIVE VOLCANO”, and those sorts of things, such a relief! (Not really.)
Back down we go! Of course, with my luck, it started a downpour. On the plus side, we had ponchos. And clumsy me tripped over a tree root. Oh how fun. We made it down though, so hallelujah!
After a change of clothes, we headed off to the hot springs. Oh my goodness, these were so cool (not like the temperature.) These Hot springs were really heated from volcanoes. Hot, cool, hot, cool. The best thing was when you had been in a hot pool for a while and then you jump into a cool pool. I think my scream may have woken up all of Costa Rica!
Dinner!!! Finally, I was for reals starving. Thank goodness they served a buffet. I think I might’ve eaten half of the whole buffet.
On the way home, we stopped by a grocery store and bought amazingly good for you junk food, my absolute favorite. We looked like the three blind mice roaming around that store. All I knew was that I wanted food at that point.
I was absolutely beat, so I was thrilled to see that glowing sign of the hotel. I was out in less than 3 minutes, seriously. Man, did I feel the effects of that hike the following morning.