Crocs, kids and exploding volcanoes in Costa Rica
11/10/2007
The tropical vegetation and rich wildlife of Costa Rica make it a fascinating place to visit. But there's much more to the Central American country than flora and fauna, as Nigel Heath discovers.
The single story wooden school house was set amid lush green vegetation high in the hills above the north west Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It was accessed via a long and winding dirt road up which our small tour bus had laboured in the early afternoon heat.
There we were welcomed with shy smiles by the children all looking incredibly neat in their blue and white uniforms and almost out of place in their rustic surroundings. They all crowded around us and their lady teacher and surrogate mother as we were jostled into their simple classroom.
This school visit was for me the highlight of a day’s tour from our all inclusive resort hotel on the lovely tree lined Gulf of Papagayo. We had stopped on the way to buy notebooks, pens and crayons for the children - who thanked us by standing in front of the blackboard and singing their national anthem. It was our simple gifts plus a donation from the tour cost, which helped to keep this village school open, we were told.
Earlier in the day our 17-strong group of all ages had boarded a launch and nosed our way up a jungle fringes river on the Nicoya Peninsular in search of monkeys and crocodiles. We were richly rewarded with an abundance of colourful bird life, beady eyed crocs lying motionless in the mud and a whole troop of Howler Monkeys swinging their way effortlessly through the canopy on their way to who knows where.
I thought, as our bus eventually pulled away from the river after our two-hour excursion, how incredible it was that with just one 12-hour charter flight hop from Gatwick, we could be transported into such an incredible world of natural beauty. Costa Rica, a land of active volcanoes, tropical cloud forests and rich fertile plains, is well known for its bananas, pineapples and other exotic fruits and, of course, for its coffee. And our last visit of this memorable day was to a coffee growing co operative where production of the rich aromatic beans has become both a family and a community affair.
All the small farmers in the neighbourhood grow beans and supply them to the processing plant where we were met by the resident agronomist, an enthusiastic English-speaking mum. The children of the village water the young plants before they go to school and later help with the harvesting, she explained. And, as a surprise finale to our visit, she had arranged for a group of local youngsters dressed in the national costume of the area to sing to us.
Keen to see even more of this amazingly beautiful country, we booked ourselves on a two day tour to the 30,000 acre Arunal National Park to see Costa Rica’s largest active volcano. It was a four hour drive from Papagayo and after an early start we stopped for coffee in a small town where my girlfriend and I could not resist tucking into a plate of delicious golden fried plantains.
Soon we were winding our way up through wooded foot hills to suddenly crest a rise and be met by the magnificent sight of Lake Arenal - dominated by the huge cone shaped volcano, its crater shrouded in cloud. The most likely time to see the top spouting fire and smoke was during the dry season from February to April, we were told; and, as this was now early September, we did not hold our breath.
But that night as we walked back to our hotel chalet following a day doing a canopy walk and bathing in hot thermal waters, we suddenly heard a thunderous boom. Then, turning as one, we saw the whole cone illuminated in an orange glare as Arunal staged a brilliant pyrotechnic display, throwing tonnes of molten rock out into the night sky: a wonderful bonus to an unforgettable holiday and as breathtaking as it was unexpected.
We travelled to Costa Rica with First Choice Holidays and stayed at the Occidental Allegro Hotel, which has excellent facilities and views out over the lovely Gulf of Papagayo. Prices from £753 per person based on two people sharing. Call 08716649012 or see the link below.