Costa Rica Chica: Volcan Barva

I just got back from a weekend in Tambor but have not yet updated with last weekend's photos and events, so bear with me while I backtrack a little. Last Friday we decided to finally check out the inactive volcano located a couple of towns over. By word of mouth we heard that the bus that takes us close to the national park near its base only passes at 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., so we were ready to go at 6:15 at the bus stop. When 7 a.m. rolled around, we started to wonder where this special bus was. Upon asking the drivers of various other buses pulling though, we discovered that the bus we were looking for actually came in the form of many buses, and that there was a good chance 2 had already passed us by while we waited. Oh, the joys of being foreign. Anyway, after a 40 minute bus ride that drove up a partially-paved road that got increasingly more narrow as it went higher, we were dropped off and told that the entrance to the park was 16 kilometers further uphill. Fortunately we didn't have to spend more time hiking up the road than in the park, because a nice Tico couple driving through stopped and offered to give us a ride for the first 10 km of the steep and windy way. When they dropped us off it was raining pretty hard, and after walking for about half an hour with no park in sight, we began to question the legitimacy of this so-called volcano. Nevertheless, we pursued, and finally made it to our starting point. The park "entrance" consisted of a peely uninhabited house flanked by a little green fence that was about thigh-high. Seeing no one in sight, we stepped over the fence and made our way to the dark building to search for signs of life inside. The posted sign said the park opened at 8 am, and it was already about half past eight. We'd heard from another girl in our exchange group that they charge foreigners an entrance fee that's a whole lot more expensive than the resident price, and while our frugal student-budget minds contemplated continuing on into the forest, a little old woman clanging a cash box appeared on the trail. She slowly made her way over to us and then immediately asked us where we were from (I've strangely been mistaken for being from France or Holland various times). Prepared to wave our university ID cards like swords and defend ourselves with poorly-enunciated Spanish, we told her we wanted the national price. Without a second glance at our cards she just says "okay", and charges us a thousand colones. Score!

It's crazy to think that Volcan Barva is so close to Heredia. The forest is nothing like anything I'd seen before; it reminded me very much of something out of a fairy tale (cliche, but true). I half-expected to see a centaur run out from the misty, moss-covered trees that look like they should house little gnomes. Unfortunately, the forest ended up lacking in the fauna department. When we arrived at the lagoon it was so windy and foggy and cold that I doubt any Costa Rican creature could weather it. Due to the inclement weather, I think we were - at least for part of the day - the only people on the mountain, which was pretty neat. Also due to the inclement weather, I don't have many "look at the view!" pictures...although my "look at the fog!" collection has grown exponentially. All in all, it was a nice change of scenery and temperature (I finally remember what it feels like to be cold!). We didn't even have to walk the whole 16 km to get to the bus stop on the way home, becuase some guys from Washington who were passing through the area us a lift all the way back to our center of town. The next morning we to the Mt. Chirripo area with our exhcange group for another mountain trek, but I'll save that for my next post.