Read day 7 here.

It occurs to me as I wake up at 5:30 to a beautiful sunshiny day that I have woken up before my 6:00am alarm every morning since day 3 of the program. Sometimes I have help (can’t forget those howler monkeys!) but, usually just because I’m ready to be up and see what new and exciting things the day will offer. This morning as I pull the drapes I get an absolutely perfect view of Arenal Volcano. I grab my camera and go out to the porch attached to my room to take some photos. Normally there is cloud cover and you can’t see the top of the volcano but this morning it’s bright and crisp and clear and I get some great shots of the volcano with smoke coming out of the top.

As I walk to breakfast I see Pedro and his birders heading to breakfast after their early morning bird walk. One of the things that is so amazing about Costa Rica is that every place we’ve been so far is that there are always beautiful flowers and plants and birds everywhere! Even on the grounds of our hotel in the city of San José there were flowers.

After breakfast we meet at the bus for the ride to Arenal Hanging bridges.  We cross Lake Arenal, the largest artificial lake in Central America and a large source of hydroelectric power in Costa Rica. We arrive at the hanging bridges at about 8:30 and there is a reception area that has a small restaurant as well as restrooms.

The actual walk is a big loop that will take about three hours and it covers almost two miles and has 16 bridges of varying heights and lengths. The trail itself is lined with honey combed paving stones that are not always even. The stones are there to help prevent further erosion of the path. Pedro leads us on the path, stopping along the way to point out plants and birds and insects. Some of the bridges we cross are short and close to the ground but others are actually large, long suspension bridges that are pretty high up. Not everyone in the group is fond of heights but we all make it across with no problems. The weather is hot and humid so everyone is glad they brought their bottled water. The path itself is level in some places but in others it is steep and uphill. Again, a good sense of balance, as well as shoes with good grip are a must. Once we finish the walk we head to the open air restaurant for a lunch that includes a large fresh fruit smoothie.

After lunch we head to Arenal National Park for another walk. This walk would have normally taken place on our first day in Arenal but we got rained out yesterday. The path in the national park is relatively level and is mainly dirt and sand. As we walk along the path Pedro is of course sharing more info on the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. The path is a mile and a half one way and we end up at the bottom of a very rustic set of stairs that ends at a very narrow almost non existent trail through volcanic rock which ends at an outcropping of volcanic rock that is a platform for a view of Arenal Volcano.  Unfortunately for us it has gotten cloudy and the view of the volcano is not very clear. Not everyone attempts the climb because it is relatively steep and difficult but those of who did it are we glad we did!

After we get climb back down we make the walk back down the trail to meet the bus to go back to the hotel. It starts to sprinkle a little bit but we make back to the bus without getting too wet. After we get back to the hotel we have a bit of free time until our evening lecture so some of us decide to go down to the thermal pools that are on the hotel grounds. The pools are nice and warm and we enjoy those until it starts to rain again.

Our evening lecture is on volcanoes. Did you know that there are 112 volcanoes in Costa Rica? Arenal Volcano is one of the youngest at only 7,000 years old! The volcanoes also produce geothermal energy which provides about 6 percent of Costa Rica’s energy. After our lecture it’s off to dinner at the hotel dining room. My plan for after dinner includes repacking my suitcase as we are off to Manuel Antonio tomorrow.

Day 9 >