Walter Coto and hostesses at his
Wagelia Hotel |
Active Volcano
Highlights
Our Tour Of Costa Rica
 OR
the second leg of our Costa Rica tour, we depart the Las Palmas
Beach Resort in Punta Uva, on the Atlantic coast near the Panama
border, and drive inland toward Turrialba.
We are on our way to
inspect three more Minotel hotels in the country. We had already
checked out the urban Villa Tournon upon arrival in the
capital city of San Jose. And we had just stayed a couple of days at
the Las Palmas Beach Resort.
On the way from the eastern
coast we make a pit stop at Pochotel, situated on the side of a
mountain. Owner Oscar Garcia Lopez greets us interlopers and guides
us outside for a panoramic overlook of the valley below and the city
of Turrialba.
Geliwa Hotel |
The city was founded in
1903, but the area has been inhabited for 3,000 years. Today it has
30,000 inhabitants. “Turrialba women are the most beautiful in the
country,” says Walter Coto.
Coto owns the city’s two
Minotel signatures: Wagelia Hotel downtown and Hotel
Geliwa in a residential area.
After we look over the
Geliwa, which offers 25 rooms with phone and TV, private swimming
pool, a tourist information center and local tours, we get back in
the car.
On to Cartago, the
country’s colonial capital from 1564 to 1823. Be sure to see the
Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, a very impressive
structure, built in 1912.
Basilica in Cartago |
We return to San Jose for
overnight at the Minotel Villa Tournon. Costa Rica is a magnet for
some 25,000 U.S. retirees, 95 percent of whom live in the
capital’s northern neighborhood of Carreara.
We had to see a live
volcano, so we make our way toward the town of La Fortuna. We pass
through such towns as Sarchi with its artisan co-op market (where
you can purchase a variety of home items made of fine wood), and
Zarcero where the beautifully designed San Rafael Arcangel Church
and its fauna maze in the plaza stands in the middle of town.
The highlands are dotted
with cattle ranches and dairy farms. We’re told that Costa Rica is
known as the Switzerland of Central America. Watermelon and coffee
beans are also found in abundance.
Church with fauna maze in Zarcero |
We arrive at Hotel Los
Lagos at the foot of the Arenal Volcano. Hotel owner Fabio
Cedeno assures us that all his guests are safe, even though the
volcano has been active since 1968 when it killed three people. For
a story on the August 23, 2000 eruption see www.monteverdeinfo.com/arenal.hotel-los-lagos-arenal.htm.
We are very lucky that
it’s a clear day. We can clearly see that the volcano is alive –
occasionally flying rocks tumble down, kicking up clouds of dust.
The awesome spectacle is especially visible at night as a vision of
burning rocks crashing down the mountainside.
Arenal Volcano |
General manager Christian
Amores Saborio, Fabio’s son-in-law, takes us on a tour of the
property. We are amused by the crocodile farm, the turtle area and
the butterfly collection. He points to the blue Morpho Peleides
butterfly which he says is a very rare specimen.
Back in San Jose for a
final night at the Villa Tournon to prepare for a return flight on
American Airlines to New York.
|
Wagelia Inn
