It was another early start to the day! Anna and I were heading off to La Fortuna by way of taxi-boat-taxi, which is exactly as it sounds. A taxi came to pick us up on 8AM and it was packed with people! Anna and I ended up sitting next to the driver, which turned out to be a wise choice as my derriere was a bit sore from the horseback ride and also, the ride turned out to be a bit more nauseating than I could handle. The road of Monteverde is aptly named, “the river with no water”. It bended and undulated at every possible turn, potholes and gravels both large and small filled the dirt path, and at points, we were at the top of the world, while other times, we were in the depths of a valley. If ever I could go to Ireland, I would hope that its rolling hills and winding rivers were as serenely beautiful and majestic.
We reached an outpost of a small town. There was a faux lighthouse in front of the shop, which I’m sure were built for the tourists.
But at this stop, there were about 4 other taxis that arrived and we all piled into 2 boats. The blazing morning sun (it only took us an hour and a half to reach the lake) made the water glisten like diamonds of a lost valley paradise. The boat rushed through the man-made lake allowing us a picturesque view of the dominating volcano in the horizon. Neither of us knew the lake was built atop a town destroyed by a volcano eruption in the early 1990s. Locals say at one point, there was a slight drought and you could see a cross on a church’s steeple in the lake. That sounded much like a scene of a horror movie, especially knowing that 80 people died and only 60 bodies were found. What happened to the other 20?
We reached shore just as the volcano plumed its ashes. Everyone on the boat was so excited I had to laugh at the genuine excitement in their voice. Was I so jaded that I could not express my awe so excitedly?
We reached our B&B a little before noon. We didn’t know how close we were to the volcano nor that our window would face it every day. It was beautiful and thrilling to know and see the looming dangerous active volcano. I admit, I had a nightmare the first night there that the volcano erupted, whereas Anna at the same time dreamt there was an evacuation. Our little place, Erupciones Inn, is not only a B&B but also a farm. Chickens roamed freely, you could hear rooster, the horses and the cows were just across the way, I had to laugh at the situation I was in. It was great to know we were served fresh eggs and milk every morning! I’ve never had fresh eggs or milk. That’s something I can only imagine in black and white shows where milkman still exist.
It turned out we were not that far from the famous Tabacón hot springs. We took a quick tour of the rainforest and waited to see the lava fall but unfortunately, it was cloudy. We never saw the lava even as close as we were to it. It was disappointing but I’m ok with it now having seen the volcano almost every day and night. Afterwards, Anna and I lounged in the hot springs. I’ve never been at a hot springs before..nor jacuzzi…or anything hot except maybe a steaming room. So I actually surprised that it was indeed hot to the point of scalding! And steamy. And sexy. Could you imagine that such a hot river flowing from the volcano could exist? And in the dark night with large palm trees hovering overhead, it was as if paradise did exist and I was its guest for one night.
