Along the way, we were granted a frustratingly cloudy view of Volcan Arenal. Never quite got to see the peak though the clouds were lifting with maddening slowness. To make things better, we drove around the mountain and the lake by it meaning the volcano was periodically visible for quite some time. The lake at Arenal’s base, Lake Arenal, was formed behind the dam that is currently Costa Rica largest source of hydroelectric power. Their extensive use of hydroelectric power is one of the reasons that Costa Rica has the potential to eventually becoming completely carbon neutral. Something to rub in the US’s face. Unfortunately, they had to move a town (also named Arenal) to build this particular dam. We drove through the town where they moved all the people named Nuevo Arenal.
Along the road we also got some unexpected guests. They made rather interesting noises when a couple tourists got out of their car to feed them…
Lunch was provided to us at least twice so we were very full already when we got to our introductory lecture for Monteverde where we were given fresh coffee and empanadas stuffed with either cheese of beans. Dinner came from an Italian restaurant where they did not serve us rice and beans(!), something I expect several of us will be glad to escape for a while.
So now, after that long day, we have arrived at beautiful Monteverde, our home for the next seven days.
