Cloudy with a Chance of Volcanoes

Since we had a bit of trouble spotting Arenal due to clouds during our tour, we tacked on a day trip out of San Jose in our last few days in the country to try and take in Poas Volcano. On the drive up we were warned that the weather was variable up there and that it was typically visible but frequently obscured by clouds. With that in mind, you can imagine we weren't too thrilled when we were greeted with the view below.

Somewhat frustrated, we took to the hiking trails in the area. There are 2 craters at the site, one of which is a 15 minute walk through some very foreboding and dark forest. When we arrived at the second lookout, we were initially greeted with a view identical to the first picture. However, we decided to stick it out since our tour was on location for 1.5 hours and hope for the best. Not more than 10 minutes later, the wind shifted and the clouds pulled back, revealing a stunning lake of collected rainwater which has filled in an old crater.

Excited by this change for the better, we enjoyed the view and then hurried back down the path to the first location, to be gladly greeted with the view shown below. We still had 40 minutes or so to enjoy the view and take all the pictures we wanted before heading back to the bus. Strangely enough, the winds shifted again shortly before we started our walk back, and before we left the clouds had completely returned and obscured the area altogether.