One of the hazards that a volcano is capable of producing is a fireball. These fireballs are combinations of flaming gas and dust that roll down the side of the volcano at speeds of up to 100 km/hour. The best, or I should say, only way of surviving said fireballs, is to submerge yourself under water for at least 30 seconds to be sure that the fireball has passed. This tidbit of knowledge comes from my SAS survival handbook, and was among the top thoughts in my mind while Denielle and I hiked towards the giant ceiba tree in the Volcan Arenal National Park.
You see, we had been walking the trails of the national park, around the previous lava flows from 1968 and 1992, had watched the steam and smoke come off the lava flow as it crept down the hillside high above, and were now on our way through the dense forest to see the 50 meter high ceiba tree when we heard the crack of thunder. But this was much louder than thunder. A large explosion out of the top of the volcano reverberated throughout the valley, and soon followed the sounds of a landslide rolling down the hill. Imagine the loudest thunder that you have ever heard and multiply that by ten, and then add in the realization that this sound was coming closer and closer as the rocks tumbled down the hill. Now picture yourself deep in the forest with towering trees obstructing your view of the impending doom.
I’m sure we’re fine I thought, but as the noises approached for over a minute my certainty waned. My next thought was the other advice from the survival handbook, that almost everyone could outrun the speed of a lava flow. This advice didn’t factor in trying to run through dense primary rainforest. As you can probably guess, however, as I am writing this blog, that nothing happened. The landslide or whatever had come down the volcano had found a resting place and no longer threatened our happy national park experience.
That night we discovered where the world would truly end. The apocalypse will begin, in my own opinion, within a foot or two of the chocolate fountain at the Baldi Hot Springs buffet. Although we had found the free hot springs, we decided to treat ourselves on our last night in Fortuna by going to the Las Vegas inspired 20 pool hot springs complete with Myan pyramid, waterslides, and buffet. This is where I lost my faith in humanity once again. Observing the behaviour of those at the buffet, one would think that officials had kept a group of tourists caged for extended periods of time, unfed, and consistently teased. I’ve never seen so many people so rude, in such a hurry to cram their gullets with as much food as humanly possible before they beached themselves on the sides of the pools like bloated whales. But the experience was not all bad. We had a really nice meal and moved from pool to pool, all at different temperatures. The hottest pool measuring in at 152 degrees F or 67 Celsius received only a quick scalding visit from our legs, while the 109 pool got most of our attention. Big screen televisions in the swim up bar pools allowed me to watch the Indianapolis Colts defeat the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs.
The next day we drove the rough and rugged road to Santa Elena and Monte Verde to see the famed cloud forests and get a glimpse of the multitude of exotic flora and fauna. We will spend three nights here of adventure before returning to Liberia to get an oil change, and then off to the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula.
Tyler.
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