More Videos & Photos from Arenal!

For some reason these wouldn’t upload last week, so here they are. I also must point out that the pictures of the volcano with smoke were taken from the most dangerous place to be, all the green in front was a town in the 1960s. Our guide told us in advance of our escape path in case of an eruption since we would only have 20 to 30 seconds to evacuate….another thing that would never be allowed in the U.S.





Here are pics from the La Fortuna Cataracts...and incredibly powerful waterfall that you hike down to the bottom of a valley. I got to swim in the lagoon, yet another thing that would not be allowed in the U.S. and it was like one of those pools that make a current so its hard to swim.






































Under a 'fake' waterfall at the thermal baths


This video is from these really cool leaf ants. They are almost blind and walk up to 1 km, the cut up leaves to carry back home. One big ant puts it on its back and a little ant then gets on top helps steer as well as lick off all impurities off of the leaf. Then these ants take it into their ant hill where they break it down and use it to feed the larvae. Alot of work...

Volcan Arenal!

This past weekend, I headed off to Volcan Arenal - one of the world's most active volcanoes that after 400 years of being 'dormant' erupted suddenly in 1968 and wiped out an entire village.

Many people don't get a chance to see the whole volcano because of smoke and fog, however I got lucky (I didn't when I went back at night hoping to get a glimpse of lava, however I was pretty excited with this view)
































I went hiking at the base of the volcano(its not a wise idea to climb the volcano as CO2 and other gases are still coming out of it) with a guide who was an ecologist - he knew everything! I saw monkeys, toucans not on a fruit loops box, oropendulas (birds that make this incredible sound and have BRIGHT yellow tails), sloths, a fuzzy bug that looks like a big cotton ball and gives you a rash, lots of frogs and more!! (sorry I don't have pictures of this but this is when my camera decided it was low on batteries...) The plants of the humid forest (its in between a rainforest and a cloud forest) are pretty incredible - lots of flowers that look like birds of paradise and super green and lush!














Tarzan-Jane style
With all the geo-activity there is lots of sulfur and hot water, thus tons of great hot springs...and I definitely indluged. (for some reason the blog doesnt want to upload anymore pics...I'll try again tomorrow)

And the next day I hiked out to some gorgeous waterfalls where you could see the fish in the water and could swim, although it was like one of those pools that push you forward because of the current - this would never be allowed in the U.S.