Day 3  

Arenal Volcano

We arrived at our hotel and it was dark and storming. We had no idea what to expect when we opened the door this morning!  Were we ever surprised! This is what you call a room with a view! 

                    Video of Arenal Volcano from our room!

Our third day began with a trip to the Hanging Bridges tour. Oscar was our guide and made the tour even more fascinating.  He started off by finding an eyelash pit viper coiled up inside in the bananas.  Yikes!  It reminded us that we had to be very careful.  

The Hanging Bridges is a great example of how Costa Rica is using its resources to produce income, as well as preserving the rainforests.  The family that owned the land created these bridges through the forests which draws a lot of money from tourism.  We learned that the forests are now protected and people have to get permission to even cut down a tree on their own land.  

There were 9 hanging bridges.  They would shake and sway a bit when you walked across, which is a bit scary when you are 900 feet above the forests!

The leafcutter ants were working hard.  One group can take all the leaves off of a tree in one day!  They cut them and take them off the tree and take them underground to make a compost which cultivate into fungii which they eat.  It is an example of symbiotic relationship in nature.    

The rainforest trees and plants were amazing.   Strangler Fig.  It actually strangles the tree and the tree dies. 

                                                         The base of a Kapok tree. The wood is used to make boats and canoes, and the fibers are used to make pillows and life jackets.  

                                                   The bromeliad plant grows in trees.  Pineapple is a type of bromeliad!

Waterfall at the bottom of the rainforest.  

REALLY??  

Walking Palm tree.  The roots keep spreading out, making it look like it has legs.










Tuesday night we had a hike around the base of Arenal volcano.  Arenal was emitting lava flows until 3 years ago.   We walked along the hardened lava rock trails.  We saw huge boulders hardened from the eruption of cinders and lava bombs.   

 Mrs. Ogle standing next to a cinder bomb that exploded out of the volcano.  Notice how far away it landed from the volcano!

The night ended with a relaxing soak in the geothermal hot springs.   The springs are heated from the geothermal energy from the magma underground.  This might be one of our favorite parts of our trip!  The pools closer to the top were the hottest, then got a bit cooler as the water flowed down to the lower pools.  

                        Soaking in the hot geothermal pools. 
                        Best professional development ever! :-)