blogabroad 
Photo taken by my Dad of me, Mike, and my Mom at the wet bar in the hot pool at Los Lagos Resort.
Our first trip started about an hour after I finished back-to-back final exams. I didn’t feel completely ready for my finals but it was ok because I was really looking forward to Spring Break with my parents and wonderful boyfriend, Mike.
After finishing a ridiculous tropical ecology exam (Yes, Gerado, I think you are a fabulous professor, but that exam was crazy!). I waited anxiously at the gate for Mike and my parents to arrive. Once I had plopped my luggage down in a pile, I started to anxiously wonder if they would be able to find me. My Dad doesn’t speak any Spanish, my Mom hasn’t spoken it since College, and Mike has high school proficiency. I told them to direct the Taxi driver to go to “La Universidad de La Presa.” But what if the driver doesn’t know where my school is? I mentally kick myself for not telling them “U. de La Presa en Atenas.” My Mom had planned to call me at 3:00 PM but it was already past 3:30 PM and I hadn’t heard anything from her. I checked the phone to make sure the ringer was on. To deal with my nerves I ran up the dirt path to the kitchen to fill a plastic baggy full of fresh chopped pineapple, papaya, and watermelon for them to try. Then I sprinted back to the gate in my long flowing white skirt. You’d think by now I’d be good at sprinting in flip flops but I still stumble a little on the uneven path. Back at the gate I start picking hibiscus and other flowers to give to my Mom for her birthday, which was the day before. At 3:45 PM, I received a text message that they would be here soon. Relieved I left my luggage at the gate and pattered up the dusty street to greet them.
When the van pulled up I gave them each a big hug and introduced myself to the driver. This trip to Arenal Volcano, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Manual Antonio Beach, and then to my school is very special because it is the first time that Mike has ever left the country and it is the first time my parents have left the country since I was born (other than a trip to Niagara Falls). I am very grateful that they brought me a sleeping bag and mat so I can return to the beautiful custom of sleeping in a hammock.
During the trip to Arenal Volcano we exchanged stories and I found out that my brother’s trip to Nicaragua left him in a thoughtful state because he met people who had to survive on less than a dollar a day and who lacked reading and writing skills. It was wonderful to see the three of them. I don’t think I’ve had the chance to get very homesick because my days have been filled with so many adventures; it was a pleasure to play tour guide and share a country I’ve grown to love with some of the people I love.
Dinner together at Los Lagos; everyone got their first taste of Tican hospitality.
The van ride gave them the chance to see the sunset over the mountains. We arrived at the Volcano at dark, ate at an Italian Restaurant, and then took a ride up to our adjacent rooms. Dad was depressed because he was told the room would have a view of the volcano. We looked out and tried to find smoldering, red lava spurting out of the top of Arenal, but all we saw was a dark sky filled with bright stars. Because Dad was feeling blue he and my mom stayed in and Mike and I ventured down the steep path to the hot pool.
Walking down the dark path was a little spooky because two dark shapes moved in the shadows. Then a white sheet walked by. These three shapes were horses munching on the grass on our side of the fence. Intimidated by the large animals we started back up the path until a hotel worker drove by, asked us if we needed a lift, and then told us not to mind the horses because they wouldn’t bother us. His news gave us courage so we continued to venture towards the pool. The Los Lagos deluxe resort was amazing. There was a complicated network of water slides, permanent blue-tiled lounges surrounding the lower cold pools, and a hot pool fed by natural springs. The hot pool felt like a steamy bath and it had a volcano shaped fountain in the center and a wet bar along the side. The wet bar served piña coladas in pineapples as well as other drinks in coconuts. Seemed like the life of the rich and famous to me, but I know that the rich and famous are even more exorbitant.
My mom took this shot of my boyfriend going down one of the water slides that goes underground. In 9th grade I stole/monopolized her manual Nikon and have been taking photos ever since. Can you see who I got my love for photography from?
Mom, Mike, and Dad hang out sipping drinks in the wet bar.
The next morning Dad was in a much better mood because he woke up, opened the door, and saw the massive Arenal Volcano standing tall right in front of him. The room and resort was just like the advertisement. The white towels in the bathrooms were folded like swans and decorated with fresh flowers. Toiletries provided were biodegradable shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, lotion, a sewing kit with multicolored threads, and a shower cap. For a college student who is used to doing her own dishes, taking cold showers, and making compost all of these luxuries were shocking. Breakfast was served in silver platters with matching tops. Our dear waiter Luis remembered everyone’s names from the night before and brought my mother Te frio (cold tea) as soon as she arrived. Everywhere we went the te frio was more of a cold smoothie with different fruit flavors. The Spanish that Dad had practiced before coming was how to say café con leche (coffee with milk). He was quite pleased that the milk came heated and presweetened. Needless to say the Ticos know how to spoil their tourists.
This is the shot Mom took that morning from the door of her hotel room.
I sit on the porch watching the horses in front of the volcano. Yes, not very exciting but it’s one of my favorite portraits and it was taken by my honey J
Mike, me, Mom, and Dad pose with our beloved waiter Luis in the center in front of the Volcano.
Before checking out the viewing point at the National Park on the opposite side of the park we decided to explore the gardens. The curvy pathways featured signs with images and the names of the creatures you could possibly discover.
Emerald Basilisk wandering around Los Lagos Hotel Resort. Isn’t it beautiful?!
Right before I took this shot, the Jesus Christ Lizard was walking across the water.
Though I was thrilled to see the Emerald Basilisk, iguanas, and Jesus Christ Lizards, my favorite part of the garden was the butterfly house. After walking in I was stunned by all the fluttering colors of the tropical butterflies. My first instinct was to grab my camera and start shooting but the morphos were so fast that all I ended up with were a bunch of blue blurs. Thus, I decided to put the camera down and just enjoy myself – this is a lot harder than it sounds. A fellow traveler had one land on his hand so I had to shoot it. While I was composing my shot, my Dad calmly beckoned, “Tammy, come here.” I should have gone straight to him because several morpho butterflies had landed on his bright blue T-shirt, but I was too late!
A Morpho Butterfly on a Bird of Paradise plant. Morphos are really difficult to photograph so the Tico who runs the butterfly garden helped me cheat. Can you guess how?
Monarch Butterflies are much easier to photograph because they hold still!
The Tico who runs the butterfly house was very kind and opened up the boxes that hold the different butterfly eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis for us to see. As you can imagine I was thrilled. Mom bought me a pair of morpho chrysalis earrings. Yes, I know I am a biology nerd! He also had a caged boa but I was more interested in the bugs. If anyone is interested I can post photos with all the life stages of a morpho butterflies. Once the guys had had enough of the gardens, we enjoyed the pools, and then hailed a taxi to the national park.
Arenal Lake is a RAMSAR site as well as an unnatural lake that formed as a result of the dam which provides energy for much of Costa Rica.
Arenal Volcano, yes the name sounds like a common Jewish prayer.
My mom really enjoyed the ride around the volcano because she got to see all the other hotels she had considered staying. When we reached the look out point we stared at the huge cinder cone volcano. We stood at a pavilion with Arenal Lake behind us. There were lots of other tourists there snapping photos and eating junkfood out of plastic containers. We expected to see red lava like in the postcards so there was an initial letdown. Most of the other tourists stayed for about ten minutes and then left after successfully getting photos snapped of themselves standing in front of the volcano to prove that they had been there. We had told our taxi driver to pick us back up in 1.5 hours so we were in no hurry to leave.
The four of us sat down and took turns passing around the binoculars. There was no red lava but there were definitely white and gray landslides of rock. It was fun to try to watch one rock go down and kick up clouds of smoke each time it hit the mountain on its way down. Dad speculated that they must be the size of buses for us to see them from our faraway vantage point. Occasionally we would hear a low grumble. One time we heard a loud growl nearby and Mom excitedly proclaimed it was the volcano until she realized it was the engine of a nearby jeep. It was surprisingly very peaceful there just sitting and watching the occasional rock fall down the side of the volcano. I thought I would feel impressed by the dynamic fluidity of our earth’s surface but instead I just felt peace.
An elderly bus driver named Mario joined us and gave us bottles of juice and tea in exchange for conversation and letting him use our binoculars. He was raised near Poas Volcano but Arenal was his favorite. We chatted casually. After a while I tried to ask him if he had extra seats in his bus and could possibly take us back to the park entrance. He didn’t quite understand my choppy Spanish so my dad showed him a hitchhikers thumb and he instantly understood and proclaimed that the body language was better than Spanish.
For dinner we went to Nene’s which was recommended both by a hotel worker and Mario. The food was decent but not as good as at my school. The next morning we took a jeep-boat-jeep ride to Monteverde tropical cloud forest.
We ate dinner at Nene’s Restaurant where this chef is smoking sausages and tortillas. Photo courtesy of my Dad.
A friendly tourist took this group shot of us in front of Arenal Lake and the Volcano.
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SO I AM GOING TO CHEAT A LITTLE ON THE BLOG ABROAD PHOTO CONTEST AND ASK YOU TO HELP ME PICK WHICH 2 PHOTOS TO ENTER! THANKS! LUV, TAMMY
Feel free to choose something not included below.
Cahuita sunrise at 6:02 AM.
Laura hanging out on campus on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Hummingbirds from our Cerro De la Muerte experiment.
Sloth at organic cocoa farm.
Boats in Lake Masaya, Nicaragua
Waterfowl off the Tempisque River in Palo Verde.
Baby howler monkey at Palo Verde.
Fallen Coconut tree at Cahuita on the Caribbean.
Golden Eyelash pitviper by our campgrounds at Cahuita.
Steve photographs a spider at La Selva Biological Station.
Daddy poison dart frog with baby tadpole on its back.
