Provincia de Alajuela

Today we ventured out of town on a trip to see the Poas Volcano. We booked this through Airbnb. It turned out to be a very small group (actually 2 small groups). The tour organizer, Gustavo, is a 31 year old dentist and started doing this while in school. Last evening, I received a message from him saying his Father, Oliver, would pick us up at 7:30.

At exactly 7:30, Oliver and Gustavo's twin brother, Andres, pulled up. We originally thought that perhaps we were just going to meet up with Gustavo elsewhere since they were originating closer to San Jose. As it turns out, Oliver assists Gustavo when there are too many to fit in a single car - so they use both of Dad's cars. While we did meet up with Gustavo at the volcano and for lunch, Oliver was our guide and I think we lucked out. The conversation throughout the day was great and we learned a lot about CR and family life here. Andres was along "in training", so that he could assist in the future.

One of the interesting things about CR life is that kids usually stay with their parents until marriage, and Oliver had 3 of his 4 grown sons at home, while the other worked in Qatar.

We were fortunate that it was very clear at the volcano. Many days it is in the clouds (at over 8000 ft) and you can't see the feet in front of you. The volcano is "active" and continually lets off a sulfuric gas. While we were there, an alarm sounded and we had to leave due to increased activity. The area was then closed and no further visitors allowed.

From the crater we did a 40 minute hike that took us past a lagoon, another crater filled with water.

After leaving the park, we stopped at a market that specialized in strawberry products, which are grown in abundance in the area . We then met up with the other car for lunch. The other tour members were a guy from the US and a young couple from India. They both work for Accenture but he is here on a 6 month assignment . She was here for a visit. Eileen had olla e carne, a traditional beef stew and I had a pumpkin-like soup served in a bread bowl. Both were excellent.

The next stop was a Starbucks farm that is used for a lot of testing. They have a big Cafe, the nicest Starbucks I have ever seen. They serve coffee prepared in all fashions (Oliver had his prepared Japanese style), while Eileen and I both had a Whiskey Cloud. While they offered tours, we did not do which was fine with us as we plan on doing one on another outing.

The views of the central valley driving back down the mountain were fantastic. Along the road, many locals (ticos) were pulled off and having a picnic or just enjoying the scenery. We got back to our house in Grecia around 3:00 pm.

It was a great day, highlighted for me by the all day conversations with Oliver and Andres.Read more