Arenal to San Jose
We would have loved to linger around the lake a bit longer, but we had to get rolling to make our way over to San Jose to pick up some more friends. On the way, we drove around the lake and checked out the big Volcano.
Volcan Arenal is a giant perfectly-shaped cone like the kind you would draw as a kid… including the lava and smoke. It’s currently active and spits smoke and ash right out the top on a fairly continuous basis. The one difficulty we’ve discovered with watching volcanoes is that the tops are almost always covered in clouds. We lucked out today and had a few hours of clear skies and could see the top, but the clouds rolled in not long after.
There is a national park here and although there is no camping inside, there is actually a place to camp right outside the entrance. We went by to check it out and it was a mosquito-infested swamp… and then it started pouring down raining. Too bad. We hear that on a clear night you can sit and watch the lava shoot out the top and stream down the sides. We later heard that the lava flow shifted to the other side, so no biggie .
We made it as far as La Fortuna and ran into our buddies Jesse and Kyle. It’s looking like the timing is still about right so that we can share a container bound for Colombia… we’ll have to wait and see.
As with most volcanoes, hot springs abound all around them. Here, they mostly seem to be the fancy variety. Most have an over-priced daily fee. We had a good recommendation for one that required reservations, but we’re not very good about making reservations. Since we were in a hurry, we settled for a cheesy water park near town, which actually seemed to be the perfect choice for everyone.
On the way down to San Jose we checked a few other camping options. One place in the mountains had a sign out front that said ‘camping’ and we pulled in and it was awesome. The problem was that they had no interest in letting us camp there. First, they said “sorry, but there is no electricity at the campground so there’s no camping.” We persisted that it wasn’t a problem and they said they would call the owner. Way too much time passed and it was clear they didn’t give a flip about us, so we left. It looked like they were converting the place into an upscale resort and the old camping sign out front hadn’t been removed yet.
Anyway, we finally found our camping spot in of all places, next to the San Jose airport. They have what is called “the only RV park in Costa Rica” in the town of Belen just 2 km away. Not quite a destination, but they had hot showers and wi-fi. There was even another Westy there. I was hopeful a third would show up, but no luck.
We met a few folks and they all wanted to have a look at the bus. Some were amazed that all four of us were going to sleep in our little camper (Doug hasn’t complained yet.) They would look at us, look at the bus, then turn around and look at their giant RV and stare in wonder.
The next day we met the owner of the green Westy. He was from Venezuela and he was actually staying in one of the RV’s there. His bus was immaculate, but didn’t look like it moved much. He was torn about recommending we visit Venezuela – he’s not planning on going back, but things are a little different for citizens.
Also, we were interviewed for the Brazilian magazine Fusca & Cia a few months back and it just hit the newsstands. We had totally forgotten about it until someone sent us a photo along with a generous invitation to come visit in Argentina. If anyone out there actually has a copy of the magazine, please save it for us!
