A volcano and some frogs.

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I visited Costa Rica in 1996 when we spent three weeks driving all over and I absolutely loved it. This time, we spent hardly any time in the country, just a quick wiz through but with a great day off near La Fortuna, home of Arenal volcano and a wonder of the world. According to me, anyway.  

In 1996, the volcano was going through an active phase and, during the day, there were multiple eruptions of volcanic ash.  It was at night though that we really struck lucky. We were staying at the Observatory Lodge, just a bit over a mile from the volcano and in an elevated position, so the view was astounding. 

I was awakened by the bed shaking, I woke the kids up and we rushed outside to see the show. What a sight! Molten lava was exploding out of the top and running in rivulets down the side. It was one of the most exciting spectacles of my life.  Alas, this time it was not to be as it has been in a quiet phase since 2010. Never mind, it’s still a wonder to behold. I’m digressing a bit from the rally with that tale, but it sets a scene. 

On the Caribbean side, CR is all about the banana. There are enormous plantations with the bunches in blue bags for faster ripening, and with conveyor belts for the picked hands to get transported to the sheds. 

Oddly, our hotel had no bananas at breakfast.

I managed to get a hire car in La Fortuna that we could keep until the Nicaragua border. This also meant we had freedom on the rest day to get about a bit. So much nature!  Sometimes, it’s just about the little things though. Tiny colourful frogs, sleeping red-eyed tree frogs, myriad huge butterflies all against a backdrop of a perfect, mesmerising volcano. We saw plenty of coatis too, one even came to our hotel room window early in the morning. I opened the door to get a better look and it wanted to come in - he must of realised that we had a room service breakfast. They are related to raccoons and are sweet and gentle. Birds too, obviously, plenty of those.  I went on a guided forest walk sloth hunting. I saw three, all asleep, of course, and very high up in the canopy.  

Our drive to the border was uneventful. It would be in a Toyota though, wouldn’t it? The CR bit was reasonably straightforward.  We left the car and walked across to the Nicaraguan side and the contrast  was immediate and very stark. A shambles!  First, our passports were checked by someone just standing around outside looking very unofficial. She pointed at a shed so off we trotted. The chap inside, wearing a dirty t-shirt,  was asleep. He woke up and looked at our passports and gave us each a tiny stamped paper. God know’s what it was for. Another walk, another shed. Several $’s ‘entrance fee’  another paper, another shed, another paper. Then,  passports stamped, an x ray machine and we were in Nicaragua!  We walked the short way to the rental office and picked up a car to use until we reach Honduras there, we will be reunited with the Model A as Nicaragua is another country that doesn’t like RHDs. From then on we will not have a problem. 

It was only 100kms to our night stop in Granada.  For the most part, we drove alongside Lake Nicaragua, the 12th largest lake in the world. There are two volcanoes on the other side which were covered in cloud when we drove past. Later arrivals saw them in full view, with gases spewing out of the top.  That must have been a small consolation as all the processing of the cars took many, many hours. 

We, on the other hand, had an easy drive to Granada, even stopping for a leisurely lunch.  The lower standard of living to compared to CR is very apparent. Scruffy, shambolic towns and villages, tuk-tuks and cycle rickshaws, even horse and carts and oxen. Super smiley and friendly people though. 

We reached Granada, the first Spanish colonial city and I was knocked out. It is stupendous. We have a rest day here tomorrow and I can’t wait to go exploring.