On the way to Arsenal volcano

Leaving our appartment in Grecia and all the noise both from the road and the rooster rear, we went looking for Jardin de las Guardias somewhere outside of Palmares. No GPS help here except for the general location. The locals were often asked for help and we were sent in circles but finally found the place as we usually do. We were a surprise as the orchid season is over and they were not expecting anyone. No Anglo here either. So we talked with hands and feet and I took some pictures of non-flowering orchids. Apparently March is the last month for orchids to be seen here here. So we gave them 10 bucks to make their day and took off looking for our next destination - a B&B in Los Angeles du Sur. I had called the American owner earlier and he was not exactly hospitable. Neither did he respond to my online reservation. In any case we were going to check out the place and entered the name into the GPS. At least an hour later we saw that our direction was opposite of where we thought we were going. There are no street or directional signs except at very major intersections. We found one of these about 30km down the up and down road. Apparently my mistake is assuming that there are only one town of the same name in the area. Wrong - there are dozens of everything. I looked for a unique town name and entered that and off we went in the proper direction. Along the way we decided to skip the American´s place and go right to Fortuna. It was an all day drive with its own questionable roads leading who knows where. This time I had marlies look at the map though and give me a hint when we might not be right.

In Fortuna we stopped at a tourist info place which was really a bunch of tourist guides for hire and asked for a nice hotel. This is how we wound up here Arenal Paraiso. It really is paradise and this morning we decided to stay a bit.

Last night we went to the other side of the volcano where active lava flows which can be seen at night from below. The best place to go was Linda Vista del Norte Lodge high up on the mountain. We had dinner there but Marlies was afraid of travelling the rocky dirt road at night to stay and watch the lava. So off we went only to encounter mobs of people down below waiting for the spectacle to appear. I guess lava is lava and it can be imagined but maybe we´ll spend at night at theLinda Lodge and get another chance at what it looks like without having to fly to Hawaii.

So, I´m paying $2 per hour to be on line here and I had better sign off. To see what I really can´t describe look at the pictures. They are worth more words then I have.