Day 2 The Poas Volcano

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we boarded a beautiful tour bus for the Poas Volcano. Earline got motion sick and did not enjoy the trip through the beautuiful farm lands and coffee plantations. They also grow a large number of ferns under shaded cover for export to the USA. Stephen slept the entire way. He didn´t sleep at all last night, like the lyrics to Bobby Darin´s song...Tossin´and Turnin´ probably because he drank some of the rich coffee with high caffeine content.

Arrival at the volcano with an altitude of 8000 feet above sea level, we traverse a cloud forest with orchids and bromeliads and unique trees. Of course, without sun, the prospects for volvano viewing were not great. We walked half mile to the crater rim and saw nothing but white. It was like trying to spot a polar bear on an iceberg during a blizzard. We then walked another 30 minutes to a volcanic lake but still saw nothing but white. This was prooving to be a bad first day.

Back to the bus for lunch at La Mirador resturant in a town I could not remember. Ut had a great view but unfortunitely the food was not great. Earline gave it a 3 out of ten. The served strawberry juice, rice, beans, meat or fish, a squash and a diced salad which I elected to avoid so that the ¨touritsa¨would not visit me. Desert was rice pudding and great coffee. We bought an optional dark beer as we now liked the Bavarian brand.

We had time for a brief look at a coffee plant and a banana tree before boarding the bus for downtown San JOse and a visit to the Natural History museum. The museum was interesting in that it showed some artifacts of the early hispanic cultures and the guide described the mysterious spheres found in the area. They still don´t know the use of the spheres which are 99 percent perfect. Burial practices were described and shown. They let the flesh fall from the bones before piling them in a neal little square before burying them. If the male dies before the female, she is killed and burried with him for companionship. If she dies first, only she is burried. Apparently, she doesn´t need company.

It really poured at the end of the tour necessitating our rain gear to get to the bus. Stephen bought two clay flutes in the form of animals for $5 US.

Back at the hotel, we packed our bags for our TORTUGUERRO TRIP TOMORROW.