We travelled out
of the rainforest area into the more mountainous terrain settling in the shadow
of the Arenal Volcano (about 90 km NW of San Jose near the town of La Fortuna) – a magnificent sight. Arenal is one of hundreds
of volcanic formations that make up the chain called the Central American
Volcanic Arc (CAVA) that extends parallel to the Pacific Coast line from Guatemala down to northern Panama.
As
with most volcanoes, the Arenal Volcano Mountain is conical shaped but it rises
over 1500 metres. It is crowned with a crater measuring about 140 metres across
and three more craters developed during a 1968 eruption (See above picture that
shows how the development of the craters).
Arenal Volcano area is an important watershed for the Arenal Lake Reservoir. The reservoir's water is used for hydroelectric
power that is connected to the national system.
Although
they consider the volcano dormant, there is still limited volcanic activity on
the mountain.
In
2010, there was an avalanche and volcano. Travel onto the mountain is not recommended
– it is still not regarded as being safe.
(https://www.arenal.net/eruption-photos/may-24-2010-avalanche-and-recent-changes-arenal-volcano)
The
museum at the base of the mountain traces the volcano’s activity over the past
century along with the wildlife that inhabits the area.
The
décor is so colourful - ceramic wall decorations, a fanciful pond, decorated
separations in the restaurant and a simple but appealing Costa Rican lunch.
This is where we discovered the great idea of
putting small scissors in with those annoying little packages of condiments
that you can’t open. 
1 comment:
Neat area. At night we could see some red spots glowing in the dark. It's been many years, though.
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