No Volcano, No Playa Bonita, Yes Fun Anyway!

We are on the downhill side of Mom's visit with us, so we've started out early this morning on our adventure.

Because the day was bright and sunny in San Jose, we headed north to try to get a good look at the Poas volcano.  Since Arenal went dormant recently, Poas is the last acrive volcano in Costa Rica.  Unfortunately this time of year it is difficult to get up to that elevation without the clouds imparing the visibility so badly that you really can't see too much.  But....we were optimistic and headed out.

On the way the roads, though winding and narrow, lead us through more beautiful scenery.  The plant life is like eden.....on steroids!  

As we neared the top of the mountain range, the view down below was beautiful.  Though the picture is nice, it really can't compare to what we were really seeing.

Because this was a well travelled  road and we were making the trek on a weekend, vendors were all along the narrow road.  From a traditional  Costa Rican oxen cart that where you could have your picture taken, to fruit and vegetable stands, to all sorts of handcrafts....there were lots of things to explore and lots of bargaining that could be done.

By the time we were at the top, it had begun to rain and didn't look really good for our chances of seeing the volcano, so we decided to stop for some breakfast and see if the weather would break.  Once again, we seemed to have the magic food sonar, and had a great traditional Costa Rican breakfast of gallo pinto (an incredible rice and beans dish), eggs and hot delicious coffee.  It seemed like the weather was improving a little and the rain stopped so we made the final few kilometer trip to the top.

We pulled up to the entrance to the park and there was a line of vehicles paying their way in.  It was no longer raining, but there was a layer of fog or as Caitlin pointed out....a cloud......that had moved in.  BUT we kept watching people pay admission over and over and drive on towards the mouth of the volcano. 

 Finally, it was our turn.....and the attendant told us the admission price....but for some reason I asked what the visibility was like ahead.  Without blinking he replied.....ZERO.  Zero???  WHAT????  I watched the other people in the other lines continue to pay and move up....and asked the guy..."You mean we can't see anything??"  "Zero" he responded.  "You can't see ANYTHING!)  "Well can we turn around.?"  Smiling, he said yes.....and we drove up, did a u turn and left past the cars still waiting in line to pay to go see NOTHING.    Disappointed in not being able to see the volcano, but the giddiness of being wiser than the average travelling bear made our trip back down much more fun.

Something else that helped the trip down were the things we saw on the way.  We were taking a different route down the other side of the mountains hoping to see some different sights.  First we noticed a bunch of bikers pulled over looking up into a tree.  While the sun was back out, it had begun to rain a little , but that didn't deter us from stopping to see what the heck was going on.  Thank goodness we did....because there in a tree right beside the road was a sloth!

After a this quick stop we headed on down and soon got to a beautiful set of waterfalls. There are three falls in this group, however, from the road we could only see the lower two....but they were so pretty it was hard to be disappointed.  

We were already feeling better about having missed the volcano!

Cait wasn't feeling great, but Mom and I really wanted to head over to the Caribbean side of the country to see if we were missing anything great.  Unfortunately we wouldn't have time to drive south where the beaches are reported to be really nice, but we decided to head to the port city of Limon.  The first thing we noticed as we headed east was a difference in the appearance of the area in general.  Nothing was quite as neat and clean as it was in the west or even in the city.  Trash was piled in front of houses and businesses.  

The other notable difference in this part of Costa Rica was the acres and acres of banana plantations.  We had never seen them before and it struck us as odd that all of the fruit, still on the tree, was bagged in big blue bags.  We found out that these blue bags prevent the fruit from becoming sunburned!  

Dole and Delmonte both have huge banana production operations, including big areas in the port at Limon, where we headed. It did sadden us a bit that these big corporations, who incidentally put their workers up in company housing, don't seem to encourage a better way of life for them.  The port is on the Caribbean, and while we understand that the beach is beautiful just south of the port, the water where the ships come in was not what we envisioned when we thought of going to Playa Bonita, which was the name of the beach at the port.

Despite the lack of beauty that we have found in this part of Costa Rica, we did learn a lot and had a great drive.

Tomorrow we are having lunch with a special student of Mom's from Jourdanton who was from Costa Rica.  Should be a good day!