Volcan Poas

Yesterday we took a day trip to Volcan Poas, an active volcano about an hour from San Jose. The national park was beautiful. Unfortunately we arrived 10 minutes too late because we were constantly fighting the clouds in order to see the active crater and the volcanic lagoon. Volcan Poas is a stratovolcano.
There are two crater lakes near the summit. The northern lake is known as the Laguna Caliente. It is one of the world's most acidic lakes. The bottom of this lake is covered with a layer of liquid sulphur and plums of sulfur gases rises from the crater and burns your nose and eyes. We also hiked to Lake Botos, the southern lake of an inactive crater, which last erupted in 7500 BC. In 2009 Poas was the center of an 6.1 magnitude earthquake that killled 40 people. The volcano sits on a large fault line, so the water on the right side of the volcano travels to the Caribbean while the other side travels to the Pacific ocean. We caught glimpses of both the lagoon and the park through breaks in the clouds. On the way back to San Isidro we were able to stop at a lecheria and milk cows. I also had the chance to feed 3 hungry baby cows. I had a great day.

On Sunday in San Isidro I had the chance to go back to the weekly farmers market. I bought a large pineapple, 2 bags of coffee, fresh strawberries, and nice ripe tomatoes. Unlike farmers markets at home everything is extremely cheap. I got everything for less than $15 including two large bags of fresh organic coffee. I bought some of this coffee three weeks ago and its all I can smell when I walk into my room. During the farmers market they were also offering rides in the Costa Rican carts with oxen leading the way. It was very picturesque with the mountains in the background.