Poás Volcano

We visited Poás Volcano today and had a wonderful day . The weather was clear, albeit a bit chilly, but that's to be expected at 8100+ ft. Being Holy Week here, traffic was extremely light (except at the end of the multilane highway heading out of town where it narrows down to one lane; everyone was trying to get to the beach!). Jordan was in a really fun mood and there weren't too many people there when we arrived.

The main crater is about 1 mile in diameter and the pool inside about 1500 feet in diameter. The water in the pool averages 105 degrees Fahrenheit because it's heated from below. There is a constant sound of steam escaping through the water, forming the clouds you see right above the pool and a constant smell of sulphur in the air.

Beside the main crater, there are a couple of paths to stroll along. We took one to another laguna that is in an extinct crater, Laguna Botos. This one isn't heated, though, and only averages about 60-65 degrees in temperature.

Also of interest is that this whole area is a dwarf cloud forest that is a product of acidic air and freezing temperatures.

You may recall that the Poás area is where the earthquake was centered that damages a large number of homes and killed a number of people. On the drive to the volcano, a lot of the damage is still visible, including one destroyed house that's perched on a the ledge formed when the land below it slide away.

The photo above is a panorama of several photos that I "stitched" together using software. Other photos can be seen in the slideshow on the right.

We're Alright!

Some of you have expressed concern for our safety after the earthquake that hit Costa Rica this afternoon. Thank you! We want you all to know that we are safe and well. At 1:21PM a 6.2 (Richter scale) earthquake hit the area of Alajuela, Heredia, and the Central Valley where San José (the capital of Costa Rica) is located. The epicenter of the earthquake was a few miles from the Poas Volcano.

Our family was at Lindsay’s school at the time. The building began shaking and continued shaking, as if it were swaying on a wave of water, for quite some time (40 seconds according to some reports)! We have become accustomed to feeling small quakes from time to time, mostly at night, but this was much stronger and lasted a lot longer that anything previous. We just heard on the news that this was the strongest tornado felt in the area in the past 20 years.

Reports say that two young girls selling candy to tourists on the road near Poas were killed when they were covered by a mudslide, but we haven’t heard of any other fatalities. Damage in the area around the volcano is pretty severe with dozens of homes damaged or destroyed, 100’s hurt and more than 35 KM of roads destroyed. Reports of damage in the city of San José have been minimal.

We are thankful that Meghan flew out of Costa Rica early this morning, long before the earthquake hit, and is now safely in Chicago. If anything more develops here, we’ll keep you posted.

Please pray that the Lord would protect, especially those who live in unsafe houses.

Grateful for your prayers!
Henry, Marcette, Lindsay & Jordan