On March 2, it dawned bright and sunny. Our local friend Jeff called to ask if we wanted to go out with him in his kayaks at the Lake Arenal dam, just at the foot of Arenal Volcano. We jumped at this chance, and soon were winding our way along the lake in a clear blue sky toward the put-in point.
As we were unloading and sorting out the kayaks, the volcano gave a big boom and erupted with a cloud of smoke and ash hundreds of feet into the sky. We were several kilometers away, but we still kept our eye on this mountain during our paddle!
We paddled in and out of little quiet coves with draping jungle right to the water's edge. Cormorant-like Anhingas and Great White Egrets were all along the shoreline. No monkeys on this trip, but Jeff said they are common. There are recent rumours of crocodiles sighted in Lake Arenal (supposed pets that have been released), but no bug eyes breaking the surface on our trip.
It was a spectacular day, and even though we loaded on the sun screen, I got a slight burn on one leg. The sun is nothing to trifle with at these latitudes.
All in all a great outing and wonderful geologic interlude!
Arenal volcano erupting at the start of our kayak trip
On Lake Arenal with volcano in background. Smoke from eruption drifting to the right.
