Arenal Volcano (Nov 20th, 2010)

Arenal Volcano

November 21st, 2010

We woke up early in the morning knowing that we had lots to do during the day. After eating the tasty breakfast at the hotel, we headed out towards the volcano hike that we had explored the night before. We arrived at the same entrance to the hike and the previous night's tickets were valid for today so we were able to enter quickly. It had been raining on and off all morning so the trails were all muddy.


After crossing the hanging bridge, we made our way towards the lookout point closest to the volcano. As we climbed up, I realized how my time at the gym was going to come handy during this trip. I think if I hadn't been frequenting the gym, I would be unable to finish this hike.



After about an hour of hiking up through the forest, climbing over trees, jumping over puddles of mud, and avoiding anything that looked remotely like an insect, we made it to the lookout. Once we got there, we realized that this was just a makeshift area that the owner of the land had thrown together to make some money off the tourists. Regardless, the view was amazing from this location and we could see all the way to the top of the volcano.

We stayed at the lookout for sometime to get rest and just enjoy the beautiful view of the area. Omar and I took lots of pictures there since he was carrying a DSLR and my canon is a very good camera as well. After taking in the view and hanging out at the shack for a while, we headed back down the trail towards the car. The trek back was much more arduous than the trek up since the possibility of slipping and falling was higher due to the steady rainfall.

After getting to the car, we scrapped off the mud from our shoes and clothes and drove back down towards the city. As we made our way down the road, we saw some areas that gave great views of the volcano and the smoke that was circling the summit due to the volcanic activity. We stopped at a few places to take some more scenic shots and then finally made our way back to the hotel.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and roaming the town for good eats and especially good desserts, and we were successful in finding both. After dinner, we called it a night since we were heading to Monteverde first thing in the morning.

Here are some pictures from our hike: