We´ve spent one night in San Jose, and two in La Fortuna. Now we´re heading to Monteverde. We spent a long day touring yesterday, including a hike in the Arenal Volcano national park. The day before they evacuated the park because of some large eruptions — the path we were walking went through a big area where the leaves were covered with new ash. We were able to see lots of large lava boulders rolling down the mountainside, and one big burst of steam from the peak, accompanied by a noise like thunder.
We saw toucans in the park, at a considerable distance. Robin couldn´t make them out, as her glasses don´t work well with binoculars, but I got a good look. Also saw a couple of very beautifully colored tanagers at our hotel. Monteverde is higher, and cloud forest rather than rain forest. We plan to do some kind of tour of one of the reserves there, and I hope to see more wildlife.
