Today we departed the hotel at 7 am and made our way from San Jose to Poas Volcano, which is within a national park here in Costa Rica. Here, we geared up for a tour to see a crater and volcano here in Costa Rica. When we arrived, we were told new rules that were now in place since there was recently an eruption at this specific volcano. They said that we had 20 minutes to walk up to the outlook, 20 minutes at the outlook, and 20 minutes to walk back down the trail. We all had to wear hard hats to protect ourselves from any potential dangers the volcano could cause in the event of an eruption. There was not a worry that there would be an eruption today, but because it is an active volcano, we had to be prepared for anything!
We began our hike with a mist of rain and personally, I think it made the trail even more majestic. I love the forest and hiking, and this trail was very well maintained and had beautiful flora and fauna all around us. While on the trip, the group learned about the Poor Man’s Umbrella, a plant here on the trail and in the higher areas of Costa Rica. It is a huge green leafy plant that does look like umbrellas. The people that used to travel in the forests of Costa Rica used this plant when the rain started to cover themselves. We continued with the rest of our hike up to the outlook.
Due to the steady rain, we were not able to see too much at the top of the outlook in terms of the volcano. It was too cloudy to see anything at the top, but there was a sign that showed us what the outlook looked like and it is gorgeous when it is not covered. We waited for the full 20 minutes to make sure that the clouds did not move away and when they did not, we began the trek down the trail.
As we went down the trail, we saw more wildlife and plants that are common in the mountainous areas in Costa Rica. I can’t put into words how beautiful the rural areas of this country are to all of us. We ascended back down and when we reached the bottom we were able to take the hard hats off and shake the rain off from our hike.