Lava!

Yesterday we went on our adventure with the volcano. We drove up to the observatory (with some yucky roads!) and then sat and watched the volcano for a while. We learned that lava is not liquid at this volcano, but instead shoots out in large chunks that then break apart as they fall down the mountain. It gives it kind of a different look than you expect. During the daytime, you can see the smoke rising up from where it falls, but with the sun, you can´t see the redness of the lava.

We then hiked to a waterfall where we got to go swimming and experience the cosmetic effects of the volcanic mud. (Good pictures there!)

The observatory has a lot of native plants and animals around so our guide helped us recognize them and their importance.

We then watched the volcano again in the dark so we could see the red of the lava flow. Once it looked like fireworks on the mountain as it fell down the mountain in all sorts of directions. Very cool...

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at some hot springs so we could enjoy another benefit of the mountain. Nice and relaxing...

Today we head out on ATV´s and then on to the next city -- Monteverde! We travel there by jeep-boat-jeep or as our vendor just brought us back to reality -- we travel by minibus-boat-minibus. Doesn´t quite sound the same, does it??