Volcan Irazu sits just 45 miles away from our hotel, however navigating through the horrendous traffic in San Jose and driving up behind big trucks and slow buses meant a two hour journey that brought us to the top just after 10am this morning. All of the guide books say that the best possibility of weather occurs before 10 am, so we were hopeful that we would still see the crater before the clouds obscured our views.
Sitting above 11000 feet, we found that we got pretty winded after just a short stroll through the barren landscape. We did manage to see both craters, then drove up to the very top to look down below and perhaps get lucky and see both the Pacific Ocean in the Caribbean. But it was not to be, as the clouds just rolled in and enveloped us. Still, it was worth the drive and the $32 (but had we been residents of Costa Rica it would only have costed us two bucks – they make the tourist pay for the improvements and upkeep!) since the other volcano, Volcan Poas, near San Jose is officially closed to tourists.
