Friday, March 16, 2007
10 March, 07
The morning started off really strangely. We were going to head off to Monteverde tomorrow and wanted to visit Volcan Poas today and sleep in Alajuela one more night. We walked to the bus stop and we were early (that makes a change), and so we went to the other bus stop to find out the times for the bus to Monteverde for tomorrow. Whilst standing there, a Belgium taxi driver asked us where we were going and to cut a long story short, he took us to fetch our luggage, we said goodbye to Eduardo and off we went with him for the day. The whole days’ plans had changed. We first drove to a coffee plantation and coffee house, had a taste and took some pics. The views were magnificent and everything was so green and lush. We then got to Volcan Poas (our initial days plans), an active volcano which had its last blowout in 1953. There are also two other craters, one of which contains a lake, but unfortunately we didn’t see anything. In fact we don’t believe that a volcano exists??? We did a lovely hike and saw a gorgeous squirrel and a few hummingbirds but it was very cloudy and misty and windy. We moved on to a place called La Paz waterfall gardens which we couldn’t reach by bus and so we were so happy we had a driver for the day. We meandered along the well-marked trails passed a butterfly conservatory (the largest in the world), a hummingbird garden, an orchid display, a froggy house and passed some snakes too. The trail leads down to five cascading waterfalls and a lush tropical jungle. It was probably one of the most beautiful places we have been to in the world and I guess the hefty entrance fee of $29 is worth it after all. The gardens were unbelievable and there were flowers in every color, shape and form. There is also a lodge that is a little too pricey for us but seemed really special and if the bathrooms are anything to go by it is probably worth a splurge!!! We finally left these gardens and made our way to La Fortuna where we would spend the next couple of days. Our driver was really a good guy and he always gave us the keys to the car when we got someplace since all our luggage was in his car and he obviously didn’t want us to think that he would disappear with all our stuff. He was in fact more like a guide than a driver and I practiced my French with him. He dropped us at a place called ‘La Choza Inn’ and it was very clean and comfortable. We almost felt like we were on a ranch and yet we were only one road away from the main road. Not that the town is so big or busy. We went for dinner to a local spot- known as a ‘soda’ (an inexpensive local eatery). We had an absolutely delicious shrimp pizza and a cerveza!
The morning started off really strangely. We were going to head off to Monteverde tomorrow and wanted to visit Volcan Poas today and sleep in Alajuela one more night. We walked to the bus stop and we were early (that makes a change), and so we went to the other bus stop to find out the times for the bus to Monteverde for tomorrow. Whilst standing there, a Belgium taxi driver asked us where we were going and to cut a long story short, he took us to fetch our luggage, we said goodbye to Eduardo and off we went with him for the day. The whole days’ plans had changed. We first drove to a coffee plantation and coffee house, had a taste and took some pics. The views were magnificent and everything was so green and lush. We then got to Volcan Poas (our initial days plans), an active volcano which had its last blowout in 1953. There are also two other craters, one of which contains a lake, but unfortunately we didn’t see anything. In fact we don’t believe that a volcano exists??? We did a lovely hike and saw a gorgeous squirrel and a few hummingbirds but it was very cloudy and misty and windy. We moved on to a place called La Paz waterfall gardens which we couldn’t reach by bus and so we were so happy we had a driver for the day. We meandered along the well-marked trails passed a butterfly conservatory (the largest in the world), a hummingbird garden, an orchid display, a froggy house and passed some snakes too. The trail leads down to five cascading waterfalls and a lush tropical jungle. It was probably one of the most beautiful places we have been to in the world and I guess the hefty entrance fee of $29 is worth it after all. The gardens were unbelievable and there were flowers in every color, shape and form. There is also a lodge that is a little too pricey for us but seemed really special and if the bathrooms are anything to go by it is probably worth a splurge!!! We finally left these gardens and made our way to La Fortuna where we would spend the next couple of days. Our driver was really a good guy and he always gave us the keys to the car when we got someplace since all our luggage was in his car and he obviously didn’t want us to think that he would disappear with all our stuff. He was in fact more like a guide than a driver and I practiced my French with him. He dropped us at a place called ‘La Choza Inn’ and it was very clean and comfortable. We almost felt like we were on a ranch and yet we were only one road away from the main road. Not that the town is so big or busy. We went for dinner to a local spot- known as a ‘soda’ (an inexpensive local eatery). We had an absolutely delicious shrimp pizza and a cerveza!
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:52 PM 
