When I learned that we’d be taking a tour of the Arenal Volcano I imagined climbing the side of a monstrous mountain and looking down at the beautiful country of Costa Rica once we reached the top. We did in fact get a great view of the country, but unfortunately we could not actually climb the mountain due to the hazardous gases surrounding the base of the mountain and it was generally not safe.
Although it was not what I expected it was still a very beautiful experience. We started with a walk through woods that turned into rainforest as we approached the volcano base. While walking, our tour guide, Victor, showed us a tropical plant that when touched it closes and releases spikes as a defense mechanism to predators.
Once we reached the final steps that lead to our destination on the volcano’s base, Victor stopped our group and explained that we could only travel the base of the volcano to a certain extent because a group of people traveled the volcano several decades ago, and unfortunately never returned because they’d gone too far and inhaled the deadly gases. Gases are released from the Arenal Volcano still to this day, which is why it is still considered active.
We took tons of pictures with the volcano in the background, which I found pretty awesome. On the way down, my teammates spotted a huge bird that looked like a chicken with darker feathers, a black beak, and yellow tail feathers. It was one of the more exotic animals that I have seen.
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