The Poás Volcano Lodge's small dairy farm and garden supply the kitchen with ingredients for the hearty breakfast: fresh juice, fresh milk and eggs, freshly made granola, incredible fruit plate, etc.  After breakfast we drive to Poás Volcano National Park, which is also a cloud forest environment.  Poás is a semi-conical volcano, with several cauldrons at the top.  We all hike up the path to the amazingly eerie main crater, which is difficult to capture in its entirety in a photo because of its sheer size and because it's often shrouded in sulfur gas clouds.  Aaron and Tiffany hike through stunted forest up and over to Laguna Botos--a cold, clear lake in an extinct crater also covered with clouds.  Then it's time to drive down into the valley toward the airport, which is only an hour away.  We are unanimously sad to have to end this great trip and to know that even if we return here for every future vacation, we'll never be able to see all of Costa Rica's natural wonders.
Day 8
The breakfast spread.
Poás Volcano Lodge
rustic main building
 
Can you tell from all these
photos how very much
Grammy loved
this lodge and its grounds?
Lodge grounds
Additional rooms at the lodge
Our 4WD Toyota Prado packed up for our last day.
Lots of ear popping during the walk up Crater Overlook Trail at Poás Volcano National Park (8,200 ft above sea level).
We make it up to the main crater overlook at the summit.
Mila and Daddy
observe the huge
prehistoric-looking crater.
It's a gigantic cauldron that measures almost one mile in diameter and 1,000 feet deep.
At the bottom is a milky turquoise sulphuric acid-filled lake (1000 ft in diameter).
Attempt at self-portrait
in front of the crater.
One of the park's FOUR ecosystems is the dwarf forest, where the tough ferns can't grow much because of the volcanic acid rain.
Back down in the
Central Valley on
the way to the airport.
Alajuela neighborhood
International terminal at SJO
Note the valley view
behind our Spirit aircraft.
Seasoned traveler Ellie
arrives at FLL.