Volcan Poas

I've been wanting to go to Volcan Poas for a few weeks now, especially knowing it's only a day trip away and one of the most majestic views into a volcano crater. Eleven other ILE associated folk helped to make this dream a reality. Saturday morning, we rented a private van for the day and headed out to the Volcano.

It was a beautiful drive, sobre todo as the van made it's way up the mountain, and you could look out and see the clouds touching the ridge of the neighboring mountain, farms and little towns filling the gorgeous green valley below. Not to mention, we were surrounded by coffee fields and acres of strawberries. Along our route, we passed many touristy stands with large signs reading, "Souvenirs," looming above their boldly painted walls. Women stood by the side of the road holding styrafoam boxes filled with the largest, ripest strawberries you've ever seen. Our mouths watered, but we knew buying some fresas would be a sweet reward after summitting the volcano. Plus, we were on a time schedule to race up the mountain before the morning clouds rolled in and blocked the view.

We entered the park, walked briskly by the museum/shop and followed the mob of other visitors up the path to the crater. When we arrived to the crater look-out point, I was just stunned. There, only a few meters below us, was an active volcano. Talk about being in awe of God's power visible through His creation. The clouds rose steadily from the turquoise colored lake. It looked tranquil underneath the smoke; little did we know it was one of the most acidic "lakes" in the world. We could definitely smell the sulfur (and by that, I mean we kept blaming the smell on one member of our group). Also, we were pleasantly surprised by how sunny, clear and warm the weather was at the top. We were told to bring heavy jackets and umbrellas, but fortunately, we were blessed by better weather than we could have ever asked for.

Continuing the explore the area, we followed a well-developed trail through a tangled archway of trees to get to the second crater, Lake Botos. Here the air was cooler and thinner, and as we walked up the stairs, it felt like you couldn't completely inhale enough air. We took it slow, had great conversations, and took a ton of pictures.

Lake Botos was lovely in a different sort of way, with sparkling blue water filling the inactive crater. The cloud forest encircled the lake on all sides, and I wished I could row across the lake in a boat. But I guess it's still considered part of the volcano, so maybe that wasn't the best idea.
After our hike and our visit to the very informative and interactive Poas visitor's center, we headed down the mountain to find a good, cheap place to eat. Where we ended up eating was very touristy but had some pretty amazing strawberry milkshakes. The best part of eating there was discovering a really beautiful garden across the street.
Cuando era la hora de comprar fresas, we convinced our driver to head back up the mountain to the stand with the styrafoam boxes. We each bought a box, along with some other unique Costa Rican bocadillos. Then on the way back down the mountain, we had the chance to stop at the Doka Coffee Estate and walk alongside the coffee fields. Starbucks just doesn't even compare (although they still might get their coffee from there). What amazed me more than the coffee though were the brilliantly colored flowers/plants along the hillside. God is so creative!

Winding down on the van ride back, the group reminisced on our great journey together. Volcan Poas, incredible views, restaurant/garden, fresh fresas, coffee plantation, taking silly pictures and sharing in the grand adventure of renting a van and having the freedom to direct the driver where/when to go.

Thanks to everyone who was a part of creating these memories!

"The Poas Eleven"