Volcano Lodge

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuck!

Our bus to the Hanging Bridges tour was due at 8:10am. Plenty of time for us to get up, have breakfast, and be ready. Unfortunately, the curtains at the Volcano Lodge are blackout curtains. I looked at my watch…10 to 8! We ran around like Hugh Grant at the beginning of Four Weddings and a Funeral, and made it to the front desk in time – unwashed, unbreakfasted, but on time. The bus arrived a few minutes later, and we boarded, ready for today’s adventure.

Most of yesterday was spent travelling. Firstly, we reversed our trip to Tortuguero…a river trip (in the rain) back to the main dock, then by bus back to El Ceibo restaurant for lunch. At that point we said goodbye to Marco, our guide of the last few days, and were entrusted to Leo, who drove us to Volcano Lodge. This time on a minibus, and far superior in comfort to the coach we’d previously been travelling on. He dropped us off, we got our room organised, then found our way to the pools and spa in time for cocktails and happy hour. They have general swimming pools, thermal pools heated by nearby volcanic activity, and a jacuzzi. We sampled all levels of bubble and temperature, whilst supping our cocktails. As it grew dark (it happens at around 5:30pm at the moment), we went back to our room, then booked some spa treatments at the front desk, and back to the restaurant for more cocktails (we’d forgotten about the two-for-one aspect of happy hour, and the staff insisted!) and dinner in the restaurant.

The following morning (see above) the nights of sleeplessness caused by the tropical rain storms of Tortuguero beating down on the metal roof of the bungalow finally caught up with me. Still, we were on the bus, and heading for Hanging Bridges. We were the penultimate pick-up, so got there fairly soon after. I’d checked the weather forecast for La Fortuna – cloud and some sun, 28°, so packed accordingly. Yup, waterproof jacket. What’s wrong with the weather forecast here? If it’s going to rain, bloody well say so! That’s the second time this has happened! Fortunately I’m wise to their meretricious mendacious meteorology, and so was reasonably prepared. Nicola wasn’t, but that was soon rectified by a purchase at the shop before we set out. In retrospect, I should’ve left the camera behind again. Although it survived the encounter (with specialist plastic bag wrapper) it was useless for taking any actual pictures, so I might as well have left it on the bus. We didn’t see much wildlife – some bats, an owl, spider monkeys in the distance, a suggestion of a lizard and a hint of snake.

After a two hour tour in the rain, including six suspension bridges (the last of which was 94m), we were back on the bus again. The rest of the group were going off to see the waterfalls and have lunch, but we were dropped back at Volcano Lodge, where we quickly rectified the hunger situation, and checked our next move. This is a visit to a volcano and hot springs, with dinner included, so the next step was to cancel our spa reservations (poo!), and get ready for that. In the meantime, I have an hour to go and photograph some birds in the grounds of the Lodge, of which we’ve seen more so far than on the Hanging Bridge Tour.