Mountains to beaches

February 9: 92 degrees

Too cloudy to see it behind this sign

We were told that if you want any chance of seeing Volcan Irazu, go as soon as the park opens at 8:00a.m.  The volcano is so high that it often is covered by clouds unless it is an absolutely clear day.  

We arrive just after 8:00 a.m and there is a line at the entrance of the park.  It is cloudy and we are doubtful that we will be seeing the volcano.  Park rangers advise us to wait because of the clouds, and we are wondering if it will clear up or if we are going to move on to the Caribbean coast.

We hang out about 15 minutes pass and see other people go in.  The cost is $20 per person to enter and the park has probably had its share of visitors demanding their money back on the cloudiest of days.

We just might see it! 

We park and begin our hike to the volcano.  It is cloudy, windy and chilly.  With camera in hand, we are determined to wait for the clouds to break for a view inside the volcano.  We wait and wait and now we cannot see 20 yards in front of us.  Looking at each other with little sign of hope, we pass some time by cruising the visitor center and warming up with some hot chocolate.  Ok, you may be wondering just how cold it could have been since Columbus, OH was experiencing its worst winter in 30 years.  It was about 45 degrees with a constant wind and a little drizzling.  Finally, in the distance, we think we see the break in the clouds that we were looking for!  Rushing to the edge of the volcano, we were finally able to catch a glimpse of the highest point in Costa Rica.  Some might have seen it as a big hole in the ground, but to us, it was more about the thoughts of this massive hole and its history.  Could you imagine it being active?  Look how big the hole is.  Men have sacrificed their daughters into this volcano when it was active.  When might it come alive again?

The clearest moment at the Irazu Volcano

After several moments of taking in this massive structure, it was time to move onto the Caribbean coast.  We are heading to the town of Cahuita.  But first, we must get to the other side of the mountains.  This will take a few more hours.  Upon our arrival in Cahuita, we learn that our hotel/cabina doesn't have our reservations.  Most places in Costa Rica actually prefer that you confirm reservations by calling them.  I suppose our comfort with reserving online (technology) and our lack of a phone has failed us this time.   Now having experienced some of the lackadaisical culture,  we aren't the least bit concerned.  Actually,  this location that was recommended to us, but it seems a little isolated and we are almost relieved that the reservation wasn't there.  We power on to the southern town of Puerto Viejo.

Puerto Viejo feels so much better than where we almost stayed in Cahuita.  It is more lively with its center full of shops, restaurants, bars and people walking around everywhere.

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Upon arrival, we know that we only need to find a place to stay for the night.  This will give us enough time to figure out the lay of the land and figure out where we want to settle for the duration.  We stop by to a place called "Outback Jacks" to celebrate our arrival but to also just soak in the atmosphere.  Soon enough, we find a place that is cheap for the night.  As we begin to unload our things, David who we met in Manuel Antonio (and saw again in Puerto Jimenez) was walking toward us.  We embraced him as we learned that his girlfriend Katrina is laying down.  She has some sort of stomach virus.  The first thing that crosses our minds is that she must have been drinking the water.  The water is fine to drink in most of Costa Rica, but not on the south Caribbean coast.

We plan to meet up with David later to hang out, but instead he returns to say Katrina is in need of a doctor.  We go grab a beer, some food and we settle into our room for the night.  We made it!