When the Earth Rumbles - A Visit to a Volcano

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

It was within just one hour arrival, sitting in my room facing the volcano, that I felt it - a massive, deep, grating rumble. The entire mountain next to me had moved... and would continue to do so every few hours over the next 4 days.

Hours by bus, we worked our way inland through the jungles of Costa Rica, to one of the most active volcanos in the world - Arenal Volcano. We arrived at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, on a bluff just next to the volcano, the skies gray with clouds and the top of the volcano obscured by a heavy cloud. 

In a walk around the base of the volcano, the mountain again shook, this time large boulders crashing down the top of the mountain. Everywhere there were signs "Danger. Do Not Enter. Pyroclastic Flows."

And at night, right from our room in the Observatory Lodge, we could observe a trickle of lava glowing in the dark.

It's a powerful, raw, unique, and one-in-a-lifetime experience.

A view up the volcano from a trail at its foot --