Day 4

"Jurassic Park...ish"

Irazu Volcano

Well today began like most days in Costa Rica, EXTREMELY EARLY!!. We began our adventure today at 6:30 am traveling towards the city of Cartago to tour the Irazu Volcano, FANTASTICO! The Irazú Volcano is located in the Central Highlands of Costa Rica. It is the tallest volcano in the country, reaching upwards of 11,260 ft. and has several active craters. The largest of these craters is 900 ft. deep, while the smallest crater, dubbed Diego de la Haya, dips some 300 ft. beneath the surface. Its mineral-rich lake can transform color, often fluctuating between emerald-green and crimson-red. On a clear day, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts are visible from the summit. However, that is not what I saw when I was at the Volcano site. We reached the site and the entire volcano was surrounded by clouds. Once we reached the peak of the volcano the temperature was so cold that we barely stayed five minutes. Since we were at such a high elevation, it was a bit difficult to breathe and walk at the same time, so I basically had to pick one. It was surely a disappointment not to see the peak, but hey, that is why the gift shop sells post cards!

After we finished our expedited tour of the volcano, we journeyed back down to sea level and headed towards our lunch destination, Casona del Cafetal. As we got closer to the restaurant the driver noticed that the street was blocked by a MASSIVE pile of dirt. It was apparent that a landslide had occurred and landed

right onto the road. So, we took an alternative route to the location which took and additional twenty-five minutes to get to. As we got closer to the restaurant for a second time, so it seemed, we had another obstacle that came into the mix, a bridge. The bridge was too short for us to cross so we had to go to plan C. Lastly after about an hour of trying to finally go and eat lunch we arrive to our destination. The restaurant served a variety of foods including, but not limited to: fish and beef. I chose to eat the beef which was nice and tender and cooked to perfection! It was so peaceful outside that we hardly wanted to leave. Even though it had been raining for a little while some of our more adventurous travelers didn't let that stop them from going view the flowers. Also, after we finish eating, Senor Fernando gave us a history lesson about coffee and how much you can expect to produce in a given amount of time.

Lastly, we viewed the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels Basilica) Catholic Church. When we arrived at the church there were a few members attending afternoon mass. We were there to take pictures but we did not know that they had a mass so late in the day. But our tour guide, Fernando, assured us that it was perfectly fine to take pictures and walk around the church during mass, (SAY WHAT?!). So we walked around and viewed the amazing artwork and took a lot of great pictures. Fernando told us that the basilica was built in 1639 and was partially destroyed by

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles

an earthquake. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels was consecrated to the Virgin of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, a small representation of the Virgin Mary carrying the infant Jesus, said to have been discovered by a peasant girl in Cartago. The story goes that the little girl found the small statue on a rock and took it home. The next morning she found that the statue was not there but back at the rock, so she took it to the priest and he locked it in a small box. The next morning the statue was back at the rock. During the construction, the church was destroyed by earthquakes so many times, it was finally decided to move it to the location where the statue was found and they were able to finish construction. Many people (one being Andrea Meszaros, a local expert on religious affairs) think that the earthquakes were signs that the Lady of Los Ángeles wanted the basilica built there. This was a very interesting story about the creation of the Bascilia. 

Well that concludes the bulk of my adventure I had today. I went to some awesome places and learned a ton of history. So stay tuned for my next blog titled, DAY 5: "Legislative Assembly"...