Costa Rica, Day Nine Monday 18th April
This was our last morning at the Sarapiqui Rainforest Lodge, and we’d booked a talk – more like an interactive demonstration – on the history and production of chocolate.
The talk took place in a clearing in the jungle. We got there via a narrow walkway suspended high above the sluggish river. We were advised to keep to the very centre of the bridge and, if you were uneasy with heights (check), not to look down.
The guide didn’t suggest we hold on to the metal rails, which I thought was a bit strange until I went to do just that and quickly gave up when I realised that the metal was already about 100 degrees centigrade. The structure rattled and wobbled a bit as we made our way across, but otherwise it was like a walk in the park. Just not Richmond Park.
In the jungle on the other side of the gorge we came across a sloth, a poison arrow frog, another frog in the act of being slowly eaten by a snake, another small but highly venomous snake and many birds. One of the birds looked bored.
I can’t find any substantiation for it now, but during our excellent talk on the history of chocolate we were told that one of the reasons the Spanish took an initial dislike to the Mayan’s ‘food of the gods’ in its liquid form was that their name for it, when translated into Spanish, came out as ‘poo drink’. Now there’s a job for a rebranding agency that likes a challenge.
After sampling the chocolate during its various stages of production – culminating in pieces of dark and milk chocolate straight from the solar-powered fridge – we headed back across the bridge to the lodge and a last swim in the infinity pool.
We waved goodbye to Sarapiqui and headed towards our next destination, the Arenal Observatory Lodge. This involved a hairy two-and-a-half hour journey along challenging roads, with huge Mack trucks suddenly appearing around corners and bearing down on us in the middle of the road. My thoughts turned once again to the Pan-American Highway of my imagination, a smooth, six-lane jet-black ribbon stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Feugo. This wasn’t it.
Arenal was an observatory before it was a lodge; a place where volcanologists could study the nearby Mount Arenal from a position of comparative safety. As more and more people asked if they could please stay the night, the owners eventually thought “Hang on…” and today it’s a popular stop on the Costa Rica tourist trail.
Our rooms were amazing. Giant picture windows looked straight out and up at the volcano, which sadly wasn’t spewing anything more dramatic than a whisper of fag smoke during our stay. It’s going through what volcanologists reassuringly refer to as a ‘resting stage’ right now. But there was an awe-inspiring sunset over the nearby lake, which we watched following a typically late lunch.
Sunset over the (man-made) lake at Arenal
Next time: We zip the wire fantastic
Where we go and what we do 