NOTE THIS ENTRY WAS WRITTEN FOR MY CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY CLASS AND I THOUGHT MIGHT BE A GOOD READ FOR SOME OF YOU.
By Scott Brown
Well, hopefully, I can make my place slightly more interesting for you. When I say more interesting, I mean quite different than what I would expect most of the other students to write about. For example, their homes where they grew up, their hunting camp, a swimming hole, all of which are within driving distance of their home. Unlike the others, I chose a place that is very dear to me. Although I have visited it only a few times, I usually don’t attach such strong feeling to anything, especially a place. My place is about 4 hours and 30 minutes from Houston, Texas, about an hour in the airport going through customs, exchanging money, and finding your luggage amongst the other blood thirsty tourist. This place is about 1582 miles from home (says Google Earth). Oh, wait, I didn’t mention that it is also another 5 hours on twisty mountain roads that pass through villages named after saints, cows and goats being herded along the road, and sometimes you will go up so high on the mountain you would be in the clouds and catch a chill from the altitude.
I hope I got your attention. The country, where my place… well, places as you will soon read, is Costa Rica. A country that has filled my mind and dreams since the first time I visited back in 2001, merely two months after the terrorist attack on the twin towers. My first trip was with my parents. They had a few thousand dollars and wanted to go on a trip out of the country to say that they had been. They wanted some place tropical but also safe. After much debating over an “exciting” (Costa Rica) destination and just a “pretty” destination (Hawaii) we had a travel agent make our reservations. Not giving her all the credit, I went online and searched for weeks, read 10 travel guide books, and came up with the best itinerary, found all the hotels, and decided where all to go. We just brought the list to the travel agent, who was a nut by the way and I would never recommend her! This was our first trip out of the United States, so we had a lot to do. Passports, immunizations, malaria (not even a worry in Costa Rica), rain suits, etc. It is difficult to describe the excitement and worry of doing a trip like this… but looking back on it now… I have bigger plans that make this trip look obsolete.
My ‘place’ is more like an area, with several intimate sites around one little village in a valley between volcanoes. Mostly, I have been drawn to the warm weather, the greenery, the people, and… well, a friggan volcano! The village that I am referring to is the town of La Fortuna. With a small population of only about 7,000 ticos (term referring to Costa Ricans), the town is the center for quite a few area attractions. The most notable is its proximity to the Arenal Volcano, hot springs, a beautiful waterfall, and nearby national parks. Volcan Arenal was dormant until 1968 until it suddenly erupted and destroyed a village and killed 80 people. There is now a five star resort that is famous for its hot springs and botanical gardens, located in the place of the destroyed village. Since 1968, the volcano erupts every day releasing steam and gas, shoots glowing boulders into the air and you can watch the lava flowing at night (when it’s clear). This, I guess is a good place to fill in two parts of the title. Here is a good chance to use a term learned in a certain teacher’s geography class. Being in the tropics, there is a massive amount of moisture in the air. The area around the volcano already sits at about 1000 ft. Tierra Caliente. The Volcano rises another 4,000 feet above La Fortuna and is neighbored by mountains to the south and west. The winds blow from the north east, forcing the warm moist air to condense as it rises against the volcano and mountains. This is termed, orographic lifting, which, by the way is not in the Microsoft Word spell checker dictionary. Why this relates, it seems that there is always a mist falling, especially on cloudier days, when there is obviously more moisture in the air. The lava, of course comes from the hot springs, where yearly at least 10 people die from swimming in lava pools. Ok, well, the lava comes from the liquid hot magma that is forced up into the earth’s crust from the plate tectonics which causes Costa Rica to exist in the first place. Where there is warmth and humidity, there is also an abundance of green. So “Green, Mist and Lava” is the title.
Ok, enough blabbering about the importantly unimportant stuff. My specific ‘places’ are located around La Fortuna and Volcan Arenal. I have three spots which I have visited several times during my trips to Costa Rica. I just go back to those spots… I can’t help it… that’s why they are my ‘places.’
The first ‘place’ that I want to describe is maybe the least moving, but most beautiful. Six miles down a road whose base is baby head sized volcanic rock mixed with a little dirt, is a developing tourist attraction. The first time I visited, I enjoyed it more. Now there is a large gate where you must buy wrist bands and then several gift shops selling typical Costa Rican souvenirs that say “Hecho en Nicaragua.” Anyways, you walk down the path, which has become better, but still extremely steep. For example, a set of steps take you down about 30ft while only gone about 40ft in a straight-ish line. The difficult stair stepper hike is worth it, for at the bottom is a striking waterfall that cascades down the side of a steep canyon into a pool filled with jagged rocks. There are hiking trails in the area that are worth a stroll down. I have gotten up close and personal with a troop of howler monkeys and seen the little red and blue poison dart frogs. I’ve also seen a creature that reminded me of Golum jump from a rock into the river. I never figured out what it was, but it was no animal I have ever seen. The hike out of the canyon, is nothing less than a work out. Total height from Nicaraguan made gift shops to the river below, 200 meters. Total trail length, 500 meters. It is fun sitting along the bank on one of the rocks or in the volcanic sand, watching the gringo tourists splashing in the water… which comes from the summit of the volcano and is freezing.
‘Place’ number two requires a drive away from La Fortuna, around the volcano to a hill that overlooks Lake Arenal and to the north east towers Volcan Arenal. This little spot is a little restaurant at a hotel, which obviously sports some awesome views. The view is just awesome. Apparently the views are great here. You can see the active side of the volcano where the lava flows. From here, is a good place to watch the volcano erupt on a clear night. You can watch the lava flow down the face of the mountain in random pulses… like a dieing heart. You can see huge glowing boulders bounce down breaking into smaller chunks as they descend. I want to save the detail from this one for the next place… but the views are awesome.
Place number three. Retrace the road from the place with the amazing views and then take a right. Here is the entrance of Parque Nacional de Volcan Arenal. There are several hiking trails, but the one I will be describing here goes across a lava flow and through a secondary forest. Now you’re in the danger zone. Remember, earlier I said you can view the active side of the volcano from the buena vista spot? Well, now I’m taking you along a trail that is literally on the slopes of the volcano. The trail goes through mutant grass fields, mutant meaning the “grass” is 12ft tall and thicker than sugar cane. You then go through the secondary forest, where “umbrella” ferns (tree ferns, but I call them umbrella ferns for a reason) and trees covered with vines. All of a sudden you the ground gets dark and you make sort of a corner and then there is a wall of hardened lava. Literally 15-20 feet high of solid lava from an earlier lava flow. From here you climb up and take the trail which is jagged and strewn with loose abrasive lava rocks. In other words, don’t trip and fall or twist your ankle. You’re a couple miles away from the ranger’s station. The ‘place’ is merely an even taller pile of lava rock, which I thought might have a nice view above the tree line. I was right. From here, I can see the length of Lake Arenal, well, except for the mist that was coming down now. Wait, the rain coming down now…. I didn’t have a poncho so I scrambled back down the trail to the forest section where I sat beneath the “umbrella” fern. Rain here is sporadic at best and in a few minutes it stopped raining. So, I meandered back down the trail and was walking back to the ranger station when the sun came out. Big whoop-T- doo, the sun came out. Wait, the sun came out! I turned around and behind me the mist was lifting from the volcano and its peak shown while I was closer than ever! And if I wasn’t excited enough, God must have wanted to put my heart in overdrive because there was a slight rumble in the Earth and then the sound of a steam engine of a train starting off. “choooga chuuuga….” More rumbling and then steam and gas began to spew into the air along with bolders kicking up dust as they bounced down the mountain! Awesome! A friggan eruption!
Although not really on assignment, I think I wrote an at least entertaining paper that shares a few of my experiences with the ‘places’ at which I have attached feelings to and will visit again and again. I am taking a short motorbike ride from Natchitoches to the Darien Gap in Panama. A journey that will cover over 6000 miles in six weeks and take me through eight countries (most twice). I’m sure I’ll find new places to attach meaning to and I’ll be sure to revisit some day. Thanks for reading!
Photos to match commentary to come soon
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