The Arenal Volcano

After our adventure on the hanging bridges, we had lunch and headed over to the Arenal Volcano National Park. The Arenal Volcano is an active volcano.  After about 400 years of inactivity, there was a major eruption in 1968 that buried 3 villages (about 5 sq. miles) and killed 87 people.  It had minor eruptions almost daily until July of 2010.  Scientists say it's still alive, just sleeping.  (more information and cool pics of some of the activity since 1968 here http://www.arenal.net/arenal-volcano.htm)

The road into the national park is unpaved and very rocky.  It was just over 2 kilometers in, but felt like more.  Maeve and Liam wanted to go to the Sky Tram which was in the same area, but it was another 5 kilometers down the unpaved road.  It's essetially an expensive ride up for nicer views. We stopped and I asked about prices.  It was $44 per person (a small discount for kids) to ride the tram, $77 if you wanted to zipline down.....hiking in the park ($22 for all of us) and the shorter drive certainly looked like the better choice.   

The trail was nice and shaded. Maeve continued to snap some of her beautiful pictures of paths (check them out on her page).  We hiked to an area where you can see lava rock and enjoy some gorgeous views. We didn't stay long or hike too far....about 4 kilometers and the kids were tired from the bridges hike.  I was just so happy that it didn't rain while we were there and that we got to enjoy another beautiful day.

Lake Arenal in the background

Hiking along the lovely path

Another great view of the lake and surrounding landscape

Hanging Bridges

The weather gods finally smiled upon us and allowed us one good day to hike without rain!  We ventured out early for the hour drive of curves. Still no puking, but headaches nonetheless. We finally found the location of the hanging bridges.  It is not well labeled and a very easy turn to miss.  

There were 16 bridges, six of which were suspension bridges. We chose not to take a guided tour (these excursions are expensive enough) but we somehow managed to get behind every tour group anyway. Since we followed them, we did find out that there should only be about 12 people on the suspension bridge at a time.  They are wobbly enough.  One was about 50 meters off the ground!  Liam was pretty freaked out and yelled at all of us for allegedly shaking the bridge.  Then he blamed others for walking on only one side of the bridge or for being overweight  There was no way of explaining any logic or physics to him.  He simply didn't like it and lashed out in every way to mask his fear.

View of the Arenal Volcano just before you start the trail

Our first bridge....still smiling

Maeve confidently walks across the bridge

Views from a bridge when I was feeling a little confident to stop and snap a quick pic

Another view from the bridge

Gives you an idea why Liam was apprehensive

One advantage of being stuck behind a tour group is being able to see what they find.  One guide found a poison dart frog.  It was too tiny to see and I didn't want to look like Elaine from Seinfeld episode where she is trying to get a workout by taking advantage of someone else's paid trainer at the gym.  Other things were easier to see.  Monkeys....lots of them.  And then there was the massive snake. I'm not sure I would have noticed it if the guide hadn't spotted it and pointed it out.  It was huge, but you had to be looking down on the side of where the bridge met the land.  All I heard was the guide saying in Spanish that it was the type that squeezed (constrictor) and that was enough for me.  I quickly snapped two pictures as I walked by (or should I say I was pushed by my husband who couldn't get by fast enough).  They guide stayed there to make sure everyone passed safely.  Later, I found out they closed the trail until someone could safely relocate the snake.  Phew.  

It's blurry, but you get the idea

It was a great hike. Lots to see and lots of hills.  Liam said we would be 'ripped' by the end of our trip if we kept this up.  I'm not so sure, but we'll see.

waterfall to the side of the trail

Horseback Riding

We had planned to go horseback riding since it wasn't as far as the volcano or hot springs.  We had a reservation for 9:30 a.m., but it rained all morning. The stables were about 10 minutes from our house and the owners seemed pretty laid back. We couldn't cough up enough money for the deposit, but they let us set up the reservation anyway. It seemed it was up to us when we wanted to go, as long as it was in the morning.  We decided to show up around 10 thinking it would be postponed, but they said no problem.  Instead of wasting the day, we went riding.

The weather cleared up nicely as we got settled on our horses.  We were given instructions on how to direct the horses. Liam and Maeve had never ridden before. The number one rule was 'Don't let go of the reigns.'  I was riding Marlboro, Liam was on Colossal, Maeve was on Cheena and Michael can't remember the name of his. 

Maeve getting settled on her horse. Everyone looks smaller because I'm taking pictures from my horse.

Carlos adjusts straps for Michael

The rain had made the trail quite muddy and I was a bit nervous going up and down steep hills.  My horse slid a bit early on, but he regained his footing quickly.  I became more nervous for the kids, but they handled it all beautifully.  It began to rain just a bit. About half way through the trip, our guide Carlos asked if we wanted to go further, or turn back.  Liam was excited on his new favorite mode of transportation and he enthusiastically wanted to go on - so we did.

We arrived at our scenic turn around spot and Carlos took a few pictures for us.  Right after that, the sky opened up and it started to pour.  We didn't stick around to take in more of the view.  We were drenched.  Of course, we didn't bring our rain jackets. We did get some coverage by the trees in part of the path.

The view just before the rain

At one point, Carlos was behind us.  I saw his horse slip backwards. He seemed to have it managed, but I couldn't completely turn around to see what was going on. Our horses began to gallop further down the trail.  I told the rest of the family to stop because we no longer had our guide with us. We all stopped to wait.  This is when Liam felt comfortable enough to break the number one rule.  He put down the reigns to clean the rain from his glasses. Just as he did this, Carlos came clipping along on his horse.  Once the other horses heard him moving along, they all did the same and Liam didn't have his reigns....except we didn't know that. His horse took off.  We were all screaming, "Pull back the reigns!!" He quickly disappeared from our line of vision. Carlos bolted after him and we galloped along as fast as we were comfortable.  

It happened so fast, I wasn't able to think the worst. I was pretty confident that Carlos would catch up to Liam and he did.  He stopped Colossal and scolded him.  He found out that Liam had let go of the reigns. Then he scolded Liam. Liam was on the verge of tears, but he handled it well.  Carlos apologized for being harsh, but he needed to clearly express the importance of holding on to the reigns.  It is how we communicate with the horse.  The horse doesn't know to stop if you don't pull the reigns. 

So with that drama behind us Carlos led the way back to the stables and informed us there would be no more galloping.  Fine by me.