Day 11: Arenal Volcano
Highlight of the Day:
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Noisy birds woke us up. As we get dressed, we notice that the cloud cover lightens and are able to catch a glimpse of the top of Volcano Arenal – for a few seconds only, and not enough time for Heiko to grab his camera. This was at 6:30 am, we never again saw the top.
This morning, we explored our first Caribbean rain-forest with our second set of suspension bridges; .and our guide managed to locate animals for us we had not yet seen: The blue jean poisonous dart frog, a tiny red frog with blue legs, spider monkeys, who travel fast and use their long arms and legs to reach out and jump far. Almost at the end of the trail, Gaston found a Yellow Eyelash Sniper curled around a small branch.
Black birds with bright red back
Hummingbirds
Lush purple-pinkish orchid with many risps hanging in a tree.
Lunch was served at Don Juan’s Farm. Don Juan is a proud, almost 100% sustainable farmer, who wants to show his neighbors that sustainable agriculture is possible even if one owns only a small, 2 hectare property.
After lunch, he gives a tour of his property and explains….
Yuka trees: get out roots
Sophia gets to plant a piece of Yuka stem
Coco tree, we all taste the white flesh of the coco bean
Banana trees, a worker harvests
Ginger grows in the shade of the coffee bean and coco trees
Basil plants are a natural border to inhibit parasites to spread
Sugar cane: three pressings, juices are filtered and served
Then Don Juan brings out the sugar cane schnapps or Brazilian Cachasa
We chew on sugar cane and eat sugar cane candy.
Kids have fun
Don Juan has only a few chicken for eggs, 2 cows, he recycles the methane gas (fertilizer), and fish (tilapia), in 6 month he wants to be 85% sustainable by only serving fish on his farm
In the afternoon, thick clouds cover Arenal Volcano. No volcano gazing, no Lava Tour.
Therefore, we go swimming in the hot pool with the ice cold “hot tub”. The girls can’t get enough, they jump and dive, jump and dive.More information
Daily Expedition Reports are only provided onboard.