And what's another day in Costa Rica without some adventures in driving.....narrow road, steep drops, some with guardrails, but only some...
road construction delays....mountain clouds...
cattle...yes cattle...on narrow mountain roads...
even city traffic as we drive through Cartago...
And we need coffee!...so we stop at this place with a huge choreador outside (the traditional Costa Rican method of making coffee), and "Tarrazu" is Costa Rica's most famous coffee region....but it was closed unfortunately...
so... no coffee for you....but we arrive safely - we never felt unsafe in Costa Rica - at Volcan Irazu...
Just like our raccoons, those coatis love being around people...since we generally leave something behind for them to eat...certainly under a picnic table there's always a morsel or two...
a brief walk and we get our first look at the Irazu crater...
and a bit further along...a small blue/green lake at the bottom of the crater....similar colour to the glacial lakes we see here in BC & Alberta...but from a very different source of sediment...
Cory wants a better look....notice the sweater - at around 11,000 feet, it's no longer 36C...
you can almost imagine the explosive power that created that crater and lake...
Our first look ever at a volcano crater....gotta take a selfie...
really seems more like a moonscape in some places...
The drive back down from Irazu reminds us that not everyone is as fortunate as we are.....
and that even though we felt perfectly safe, most of the homes are fenced in, many with barbed wire, even those homes that don't seem to have much to lose...
Jenni pointed out that all those red flowers are amarylisses, or amarylissi....
Our stop for this night will be Guayabo Lodge, near the town of Turrialba....in the small red circle in the middle of this map...close to the two volcanoes..
and it's coffee country!
As we continue to enjoy the gardens of the Guayabo Hotel...
the receptionist runs up to us and excitedly tells us that the clouds have lifted and we can see Volcan Turrialba!
And there it is! OK, not quite as majestic as Arenal and not quite so close as Irazu...but that's not cloud above that mountain, that's smoke & steam! That's an active volcano! And again we just stood and watched...
After enjoying that look at smokin' Turrialba, we got in the car and went looking for supper...we came across a soda, Rancho del Sapito - well this was much bigger than your average soda but we still were able to order some casados.
It was also an operating farm, as the clouds descend from the mountain tops..
raising their own chickens, pigs, cattle, even trout...
and sheep!
nice flowers too! ....maybe it's the fresh manure they use....
just in time for sunset over Volcan Turrialba...with just a small puff of smoke rising from it...
but then, THIS! OMG!!!!
nah, not lava, just flare from my camera lens....hee-hee....fooled you!......
The next day would be our last full day in Costa Rica, when we would get closer to Volcan Turrialba, enjoy yet more driving adventure, and discover, too late, far too late, the goodies inside a Panaderia....
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and not to mention they make their very own and famous throughout Costa Rica, Turrialba cheese...really good cheese, similar to Halloumi in saltiness and texture, but a bit more crumbly....we enjoyed it!
Then back to our hotel, the Guayabo Lodge...
just in time for sunset over Volcan Turrialba...with just a small puff of smoke rising from it...
but then, THIS! OMG!!!!
nah, not lava, just flare from my camera lens....hee-hee....fooled you!......
The next day would be our last full day in Costa Rica, when we would get closer to Volcan Turrialba, enjoy yet more driving adventure, and discover, too late, far too late, the goodies inside a Panaderia....
Leave us a comment, we'd love to know you were here. (no account necessary)
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