Enter the Volcano

Ah, Costa Rica, land of wonderful people and appalling roads! I have come to appreciate how adventurous it was, in the old days, to travel through central america on a motorcycle before the InterAmerican Highway was built.

I've spent the last couple of days visiting Palo Verde and Volcan Tenorio National Parks.

Here are some pictures from Palo Verde, where I was the only tourist. It was mostly a bust because it's too wet to explore the wetlands (?!), but I had a wonderful time talking with Viviana and Mariesol, the women who work there, and had my first monkey (mono) encounters: a white-throated capuchin carrying a baby right overhead, and a howler monkey (which are *very* intimidating to hear, they sound like big cats growling).

And a beautiful waterfall with its own beach just outside Palo Verde, where I had the place to myself because the only other tourists gave up when they couldn't drive there; i walked. I'm discovering that I like walking alone through the forest, it's very peaceful.

I'll post pictures from Volcan Tenorio later.

Now I'm at a backpackers hostel in El Castillo, above Lake Arenal and less than a mile from the foot of Arenal Volcano, which is alive. I watched the dark smoke curl from its cone this morning before coming in to wait for breakfast.

My assignment today is not, as I had planned, to explore the rain forest via the hanging bridges and visit a butterfly conservatory and the hot springs. Instead, my job is to find a mechanic who can replace the broken metal strap that holds the RAV4's gas tank onto the chassis, so that I can continue on to the Santa Elena cloud forest reserve, reached via a long stretch of bad road. It broke yesterday and I was able to find a guy at a gas station who spent 30 minutes under the car jerry-rigging a temporary fix with aluminum wire. When I thanked him profusely and asked how much I owed him, he and the station manager said, "Cuanto tu quieres." (I gave him $10 and would have given $20 except I'm out of money until payday next week.) That sums up how Ticos are - the vast majority of Ticos I've encountered have been genuinely kind, gentle, friendly people. When I drive down the more remote country roads, people actually wave to me - not the desultory, grudging lift of a finger offered in the US, but a real wave, with hand movement and a friendly smile.

OMG life is good. I asked the innkeeper to recommend a mechanic in Fortuna, 20km away (including 10 on a *rough* rocky road) and it turns out the cook's husband is a mechanic just up the street here in El Castillo, and he's coming here now. YAY!

30 minutes later: the local mechanic said the broken gas tank strap is the least of my worries. Apparently the car's undercarriage is so badly rusted that the housing for something important is only hanging on by a thread. I'll be ok driving on a flat paved road but anymore potholes or steep hills could cause the whole thing to collapse. I need to find a mechanic who can put the car up on pylons and fix the rusted undercarriage. Sooo, I'll be spending a while in Fortuna.... Fortunately, I know someone there: Victor, a cousin of Cesar's friend David. Victor will help me find the mechanic and then we'll leave the car and go play in the hot springs. Keeping my fingers crossed for a layover of 2 days or less. Of course, there are worse places to be stuck than in the beautiful Arenal area.

Gotta get to Fortuna, ciao!