Arenel day 1

We thought we had died and gone to heaven thought shanti, sitting on our veranda last night looking across an idyllic forested scene, up the 35 degree slopes up the side of the perfect cone shaped mountain to a summit probably not even 10k away, in the evening light. We enjoyed a last few hours at Tortuguero, before a 7 hr trip here. There was a rain storm coming, not that we knew that, and we sat beside the canal while the howlers went off in the distance. They were the perfect lead in to mighty thunder that rolled through then rain that just upped and upped in intensity. We finished packing in near dark, with the heavy cloud cover, then onto the boat (with top covered but not sides) for the ride out. We and gear were well wrapped in plastic covers and off we went for an hour and half trip. We followed a different canal system north then put on life jackets to turn west into a smaller system, with a decent current. It had plenty of timber some visible and some not, so we slowed often to crawl over drowned, fallen trees. A good idea in that waterway, with only one outboard motor and no back up. It hosed down all the way, and eventually the forest started opening, with the occasional building and then some smaller plantations of bananas and other fruits. The residents had access only by boat, the occasional one skimmed past on the way down, very long narrow vessels with an outboard. Finally we reached a concrete slipway in a muddy bank and walked out to meet a van. The roadway was surprisingly good with gravel on it and we soon found out why. The area was well populated with extensive plantations, homes and even schools. We left the lodge 9 am, and by 2 pm we transferred vans for the drive to Arenal. It takes us north and to the uplands, rolling hills at the foot of the main divide. Very pretty country and temperatures becoming a little cooler. It reminded me of the rolling hill country in the nz central volcanic plateau, the way the soils erode to produce distinctively shaped hills and steeper sided gullies. We were approaching an area dominated by active volcanoes.
We could have spent more time in Tortuguero, just at the lodge and gardens to marvel at the wildlife. There would be a tiger heron, all banded and with a dagger of a bill sitting on the wharf. Around the trees might wander an occasional iguana or their smaller, bright green cousins, They seemed to like habitations, the roof making a good sunbathing spot in the morning. They are impressive and I wouldnt imagine you could leave an infant kicking on the lawn with one of those things around. They have a curious disc on the side of the head that grows larger with age. It looks like and eye (that may be its purpose) but the real eyes are evil little yellow things that track you as you walk around. One bird that fascinated us was the Montezuma bird, a long crow like bird with bright yellow tail, strangely marked head and a dark metallic black body. I couldnt photograph them well, high in the canopy. They emitted a periodic call, a´high volume burst of turkey like gobble, with an accompanying whizzing noise and high frequency clicks. This was accompanied by falling forward, still holding the branch, lifting the tail forward and fanning it, and half spreading the wings. Very bizzare. Other life was every where, from marbled fish in the shallows, to birdlife through the garden, toads and large water beetles in the pool, and turkey vultures overhead.
But our time was up and after a long but not an uncomfortable trip we were sitting in the splendid place, with a spacious room and excellent air con, to wash and dry out all our clothes which seemed otherwise destined to become mushroom farms.
The mountain could be Mt Taranaki, except clothed in rain forest until the larva and boulder fields take over, higher up. A gas plume climbs out of the crater and bends away down wind. There is a nearby tourist town La Fortuna, but we are 10 kms closer, not the nearest place to the mountain but almost. I could walk in minutes to the foot slopes so it is very imposing and we look straight at it from our room. We had just checked in a sat down and we had a decent earthquake to remind us where we were. For 30 seconds at least the ground shook and quivered, We couldnt get over the fact that the hedge in front of out veranda shook visibly, the ground is very soft and wet a it all quivered like jelly. It must have either been related to the plate boundary we are sitting on, or maybe the magma chamber below the mountain (and no doubt below us) released some pressure into one of the volcanic vents. Unfortunately no eruption followed. The mountain erupts regularly often daily, but nothing as yet. It also is covered with clouds much of the time, but heres hoping. At its best, it erupts at night with the booming very audible, molten rocks thrown to height and larva flows on the top section of mountain being visible in the darkness. But its a long shot and even without an eruption its a wonderful and beautiful place that photos do no justice to.
Its about midday on day 1 here, following yesterdays travels. We spent the morning with our fist good views of hummingbirds. We found a bank we could sit close to and just above flowering shrubs the birds were visiting, and had a couple of hours watching two species. Shortly we will see many more as we head, for the next stage, into a higher location in the so called cloud forest. But I have my first photos and will stop now to try to load some on FlickR.