Volcan Poas

Friday, August 3, 2012

I went with a tour group to see the Poas Volcano today. Since San Jose sits in a valley completely surrounded by mountains, we had to work our way out of the valley up to the volcano. What a beautiful drive!  Looking back over San Jose was a spectacular view! The weather was nice, only partly cloudy with plenty of sunshine.

View of San Jose

We passed one coffee plantation after another with fields of flowers and ferns interspersed.

A coffee plantation

Fern Farm (ferns are covered to protect them from the cold night air)

 When we arrived at the Volcan Poas National Park, the sun was shining. It was breezy and cool, but very refreshing. We walked along a path for about 10 minutes or so until we came to a wooden barrier marking the end of the path and the start of the crater. All we could see were clouds. We were so disappointed, but decided to take pictures of the fence and clouds just to show we were there:

Nothing but clouds...

 Al of a sudden I thought I saw something through the camera lens:

Wait a minute! I think I see something!

The wind was blowing and as the clouds were quickly blown away, the crater came into view:

  

Literally, in a matter of just a couple of minutes, the view went from total washout to crystal clear:

The crater is filled with mud, water, and sulfuric gas. It bubbles and churns and occasionally sends up a geyser.

Facts about Volcan Poas

The main crater shown in the pictures above is at 8,500' altitude. This crater is one of the largest in the world. The biggest eruption occurred in 1910. The last eruption with lava was in 1954. The volcano is carefully monitored. The park was briefly closed in 1989 and off and on in 1995 for minor eruptions of ash.

There are two other craters, but we only had time to view one of them: the Botos Lagoon. I thought I was going to die hiking up a hill to get to the lookout. I think they said the path was 100 meters long. I don't know if it was the altitude or something else I don't want to admit, but it was a rough hike for me. I had to stop several times to catch my breath. The view, however, was worth the hike:

Botos Lagoon. Very peaceful, filled with clear blue water.

We saw several squirrels along the way and some lovely blue hummingbirds. The squirrels look very different than what we see in the northwest. The hummingbirds were too quick to catch in a foto:

Can you see the squirrel? He's just about right in the middle on a small log.