Sunday, February 17, 2013

Costa Rica Journal...Day 5...Saturday, February 16, 2013...Arenel Volcano

I was up this morning at 6:30AM after a wonderful night of sleep in a comfy bed.
I had lots of plans for the day...starting with breakfast. I sat with my new friends, Gretchen and Ernie (from San Diego) for a nice breakfast...scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns, and some delicious tropical fruit.
After breakfast, I spent a few hours online...Facebook, emails, post to the blog, check UM 2014 football recruiting...the usual. I had planned to spend the day at a local hot spring...soak, have lunch...then return to the lodge to go on a volcano tour. But I was feeling pretty lazy...so...instead...I wandered around the grounds of the lodge with my camera. I got some good shots of a few interesting birds as well as a small animal in the raccoon family.
In the afternoon, I did some maintenance work...drain an re-ice the cooler, charge the camera batteries, charge the headlamp, check my maps for the routes of the next couple of days. There was a potential disaster involving the Garmin GPS. I've got a "system" called "iGo"...it's a wall plug and a lighter plug that uses interchangeable tips to charge different things...instead of carrying along a whole bunch of charging cords, you just take the iGo cords and a bunch of different tips. But, today, the tip for the Garmin GPS broke...beyond repair. Fortunately, I was able to use the tip for cell phone charging as a substitute. So far, so good.
Around 5:30PM, I mixed myself a nice big Manhattan and relaxed on the patio of the Casona with a cigar. The beautiful views of the lake and volcano, the sounds and sights of many different kinds of tropical birds, and the odd sighting of some small animals...all very interesting.
At 6:30, I'm up at the restaurant for dinner with Gretchen and Ernie. Ernie has been coming to Costa Rica for over ten years, and he has a home on the Pacific Coast. He has some really good advice on places to visit down here as well as some very practical tips on general security..."no beach camping!").
After dinner...down on the porch of the Casona...I was joined by my New Hampshire friends, Andrea and Steve, and my San Diego friends, Gretchen and Ernie, for a great night of cocktails (I made Manhattans) and conversation. But, by 9:30, we're all tired and ready for bed.
I get that last night of sleep in a comfortable bed...starting tomorrow, it's about a week of tent camping before another hotel stay.

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