Driving and the Volcano
Finally got out of the city this week to see what the rest of the place looks like, and to check out my driving skills. As to the second I'm glad that I spent so much time not driving and just watching. As fate would have it I wound up renting a car after dark, so my first jump into traffic in the middle of town was less than ideal. By the time I got home I had both turned the wrong way up a one way street and purposely ran a red light with a group of other not so patient drivers. I may have mentioned before that signs and signals seem to be mere suggestions in these parts.
I spent the next day cruising familiar parts of town, drove over to my new digs and went to the mall. I went out again at night to nail down my night vision and work on interpreting the strange traffic lights, and by the next day I was ready to cruise.
I've driven across the US three times and have seen some roads and read some maps. I've driven around Mexico, Canada and Spain, but this was interesting. I applaud the cooperation between NASA and the government of Costa Rica for their current project of aerial photography to help map the country, because current maps don’t do justice to the joint. Pavement also seems to be an option. One of the more important skills that you would be wise to brush up on is your passing technique.
Lounging around the two to ten lane behemoths with nary an oncoming vehicle in sight tends to make one lazy and unaccustomed to the particular adrenaline rush of the grill of a Mack truck looming larger as the guy next to you decides he really wants to be first in line. In an underpowered 4x4 Daihatsu rental in the rain and dodging potholes
The first stop was the Volcano Arenal, which since 1968 or 69 has been spewing matter into the atmosphere for your viewing pleasure. The American driving public (of the Estados Unidos persuasion) has it easy. You can't practically get out of your driveway without a sign establishing your whereabouts. Even tiny secondary roads are marked with little arrows at the intersections nudging you in the right direction, and informing you as to whether you're going north, south or otherwise. Here sometimes you just can't buy a sign. You've just kinda got to know where you're going, and get the feel for which way traffic is moving as you pass through the towns along the way.
As a matter of course we visited three unscheduled places and at one point were nearly pointed at the sky as we crawled up a dirt road (considering kicking in the four wheel drive, if not for the fear of stopping to do so) looking to reconnect with the main 'highway.' We arrived after dark, in the fog, to find that the travel agent had failed to confirm the reservations at the Hotel Montana de Fuego.
In the light of day the resort was lovely with two different groupings of cabins, almost all of which had some kind of view of the volcano. It's kinda big though so it's hard to miss. I took some pictures and then drove around to find different views and to see how close we could get. I found what I thought was a nice composition between some trees and pulled over to take a couple of shots. As I did I heard what sounded like the chugging of an old-fashioned steam locomotive coming from the direction of the mountain and watched a big puff of smoke pop out the top. Yassir, this was a live one.
The rest of the day was spent driving and hiking around for the better shot, and I was lucky enough to get some night shots with lava flows.
Next adventure: Horseback riding up a mountain to the zip lines for the canopy tour, where you clip your harness onto a steel cable and hope you have followed the instructions reasonably well. Tune in to see if I made it to the other side. (Hint: I am actually writing this after the fact and at the beach as the capillaries in my legs attempt to deliver blood to my lobsterized skin in a deliciously painful way).
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