An Explosive Stay- Pura Vida II

Explosive? Isn’t that hyperbole? That is quite a promise, don’t you think?

Well the Arenal Observatory Lodge delivers.

Starting as a geologists camp to study the Arenal Volcano (yes, I said volcano- notice the smoke rising from the 'mountain' behind me!). The location was specifically chosen in the 1970's by scientists from the Smithsonian Institute, who needed a close vantage point from which to study the volcano...

(close vantage point, what about safe?!!).

The Lodge sits on 870 acres of land, including 270 acres of primary rain forest, and is adjacent to the Arenal Volcano National Park. Thrill seekers from all over the world wanted to come see an active volcano and so the lodge was expanded.

The grounds are exquisite! Laying out by the pool, you are surrounded by lush forest, oh, and yes, a big volcano that is only 1.7 miles away...

never really out of site or your conciousness as the rumbling is continuous. Two pool views:
one shows the smoke surrounding the volcano that sits right above it - the other, the thick vegetation of the dense forest that surrounds you.

Staying in the Smithsonian rooms was amazing...but If you are one for luxury, this is not the accomodation for you (you know who you are!). Still, happy memories of my fifth grade school trip to Hillside Outdoor Education Center (aka survival training 'educational' camp) immediately came flooding back.

Rustic rooms to be sure.

BUT, as you come into your room, a muffled crackling noise and most likely your natural curiosity, draws you out onto your little deck…and there it is. A smoking, exploding, active volcano.

Cool! Tends to be the first reaction.

The second? Wait, that is awfully close... is this safe?! (This picture is of Johnny and I on the deck of my room looking out at the Volcano- oh, and by the way, the foggy morning makes the volcano look farther away than it is, trust me!).

I suppose nothing in life is truly safe. Really, a drive to the airport on a three lane busy interstate, surrounded by trucks that may be hauling just a bit too much product for XYZ company and whose routine break inspection may be just a few weeks too late can be just as unsafe as being on the side of a volcano...right?

Still, I guess because its something you don’t see or experience very often, and most of us have probably only seen magma (ha, I got to actually use that word!) while watching all those films in our earth science classes, the question of whether it is safe (and knowing that no one can really answer that) makes you feel alive.

Nature can do that- the pure power of it, the uncertainty, it's truly wondrous… magnificent in fact. And that was all before the real show began.

There is a deck, high enough so that you are above the rain forest…overlooking the tops of trees in the forground, but the star of the show is looming large in the background. At the base, you can see the details of the lava rocks decimation of the forest. In hushed awe, visitors sit out and quietly watch the volcano erupt.

Crackling and snapping, like a camp fire, or the sound of pop rocks that the ice cream man always had in great supply on his truck during the summers of my youth, you hear the volatility that dwells within.

Nighttime is when the volcano comes to life though. It starts. Smoke, barely able to be seen except through the dim light of the moon, drifts from the top. Then the sound that Fourth of July fireworks make when they are being catapulted into the sky…boom…boom…boom. Spectators there for the show lean forward…waiting…waiting.

There! Someone points...

Coming out of the smoky haze that surround the top of the mountain, the first red, fiery spark can be seen. Large rocks had just been ejected from the deep bowels of the volcano and were now crashing down the mountain. (Later we would come to realize that the ‘rocks’ were actually boulders the size of small cars!).

Streaks of red, like the tail from a comet, would follow these boulders. Each time it hit the side of the mountain on its decent, a loud, deep crack could be heard.

Violent, like the sound of one car hitting another. At times, the breeze would blow the smoke in the right direction and the top of the mountain could be seen.

Truly a wonder.

So you would think that staying next to an exploding, active volcano would be more than enough excitement, right? Oh no. Not on this -make sure you're happy to be alive- I don't want to hear you complain about your age- birthday trip.

As much as this got my heart pumping, it was nothing compared to the next morning, a day where fear, nay...terror meets human will and choice... and I would surprise myself.

Hmmm....maybe that is why Steve was smiling so much at breakfast the next morning...only he knew what lay ahead.

Pura Vida, the ‘Pure Life’ of Costa Rica: PART 1

Take off- One last Surprise

Sitting in the Houston airport, the layover city that was the final American stop before taking off on my Costa Rica adventure (one that I had been completely unaware of two days prior, until my sweet husband announced the surprise trip at my birthday dinner), I still felt the familiar tug of intuition that told me that there was something else I did not know. Turning to Steve, I asked one last time, “are you sure that there is no other surprise left?”

I put those feelings to rest though after having Steve’s assurance that once we boarded, my last surprise would be the reaction to the country and the adventures that lay ahead.

Liar.

Always listen to the intuition. Although, to be honest, I really do love surprises, and this one last surprise, a big one, was the only one Steve really was able to get away with.

You see, somehow I had managed to have a good idea of all the birthday surprises he had planned. It’s not that I want to know, it’s my intuition, I’m a good guesser and well, I know Steve pretty well by now.

“Let me take a picture of you before we take off, you know, our last stop before being in another country,” Steve said.

Suspicious yet?

You should be, I however, was not.

“Smile, you’re about to take off for Costa Rica,” Steve says.

I become aware of someone next to me, I dismiss it, the terminal is filling up…

snap, flash…the picture is taken.

Johnny, sidling up to me, devilish smile on his face, and me, obliviously unaware, smiling the perfunctory smile that thousands of people do when posing for vacation photos.

Another second later and an arm falls around my shoulder…

...a familiar giggle sounds in my ear and I turn...

"Johnny," I exclaim!

Steve calls out, “turn over here,” hugging, we turn…

another snap, flash...and the moment is captured.

Now you would think that I would have figured it out right there, right?!

But, I am a gullible and trusting soul and Steve had just told me no more surprises, and Johnny had told me he was going to Peru with his family….so I thought he just happened to be leaving on his trip, on the same day, from the same terminal, at the same time…yea.... see, you get it.

I will simply say that, one: it was morning, two: I had only had a very small amount of coffee (compared to my usual morning pot!), and three: I believe what people tell me!

My reaction? (okay, once I actually figured it out!)…

Hooray, Johnny was coming on the adventure! (Bilingual, born in Nicaragua, and one of the funniest, upbeat and outgoing people you will ever meet, he also happens to be one of our dearest friends who was literally there at the beginning of our relationship, and who then played an integral part of our wedding by performing a portion of the ceremony).

Although there would be amazing, life affirming (life threatening?) adventures to come, one of my favorite moments was captured in two amazing photos, quickly snapped before take off. The hug exchanged and bright smile is the evidence of someone who is starting to realize the excitement of what lay ahead.

Two seconds, two emotions captured forever in film.

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Post Script: Steve - aka - the sneaky mastermind - and I, completely unaware, on the first flight - Phoenix to Houston!