Fiery Arenal Volcano Of Costa Rica
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All our luggage and camera gear is packed in the van by 8 a.m. and we are on our way to our first destination, soon to become a real life adventure. We are on a photography tour so everyone is talking cameras and pictures. This is the first day, we are getting to know one another, and the level of excitement in the van is high looking forward to the tour.
We are on our way to Arenal, an active volcano in Costa Rica, but there are a few stops along the way. First, we stop in Sarchi, famous for its tropical furniture, where magnificent, brightly decorated ox carts are made in an eighty plus year old water powered factory. From there, we drive to the little mountain town of Zarcero where the focal point is the old wooden church with its much-photographed double row of topiaries leading to its entrance. You can fill your camera’s memory card just at these two places with the colours and patterns in Sarchi and the fantastic shapes of the topiaries in Zarcero.
The roads in Costa Rica are famous, not only for the magnificent land which they traverse but for their condition. Our driver, Luis, knows that we will encounter many potholes so he is cautious and as a result we are passed by most everything on two or four wheels. Many drivers here, from the ubiquitous taxistas to truck drivers, think they are Formula One drivers. Indeed, reportedly there is a bus driver whose passengers frequently find religion on his overland route.
After Sarchi and Zarcero we stop for lunch in La Fortuna and are now just a few miles from the lodge in Arenal. Upon leaving the main highway for the lodge we find ourselves traveling in, out, and around potholes. The rainy season ended about the beginning of December so many roads are still in very poor condition. Our road is unique because it was built out of crushed lava.
We round a curve and a come to a clearing at a river and there is Arenal Volcano! Most have never been face to face with a volcano before and it is truly an awesome sight to see, a perfectly shaped volcano.
The top of the cone is shrouded with little fluffy white clouds against a blue sky. It is picture perfect and we quickly stop and everyone piles out of the van attaching cameras to tripods, some of us wading into the river to capture an image from a different perspective and others shooting from the riverbanks.
Who is to say how dangerous being this close to an active volcano can be? Fortunately, Arenal is very predictable and today is closely monitored so there is a very low risk of a serious, catastrophic, unexpected eruption. Only 1 km away from the base of the volcano and 2 km to the top of the cone is the lodge where we stay and without a doubt any activity attracts the attention of everyone.
While unpacking and getting settled in, Arenal speaks. It is a great roar, smoke and gas billowing many hundreds of feet into the sky and the sound of the rocks tumbling down the slopes. After the eruption, the Mantled Howler monkeys are extremely vocal but we do not know if they are protesting the roar of the eruption or just answering back.
While sitting in the lodge dining room enjoying our dinner Arenal speaks again. Everyone had been told of the many photo opportunities in Costa Rica but who would imagine eating dinner and having something like this happen? And this was only our first day of the tour!
Most of us do not get much sleep for the first two nights. Instead, we find some comfortable chairs in the common area outside our rooms and attach cable releases to our cameras and put them on a tripod. From past experiences I decide to use an 80-200mm lens set at 80mm and an aperture of f8, the camera shutter set at “B” for time exposure.
With the activity of the small flare-ups at the cone and the lava flowing down the opposite side I think a time exposure of more than twenty minutes will produce an ugly yellow blob of light, so if there had been no eruptions after this length of time I will close the shutter and start another exposure. Using a cable release makes these exposures very easy and Arenal puts on quite a display while we are there.
What a magnificent first day of the tour in Costa Rica. Eight more days of photography to go and everyone is anxiously looking forward to what exciting adventure tomorrow will bring.