Graduation Day & Volcan Turrialba Lodge

Yesterday (Friday) was my last day of class. Alice had a full 3 hours of lessons and discussion planned plus there was an evaluation to fill out.  Everything about the school was excellent.  I feel pretty doggone comfortable striking up a conversation or asking questions in Spanish.  And in hearing and understanding the gist of what's being said without asking for a repeat or having to use the infamous "no entiendo" because I'm not understanding.


We even had a small graduation ceremony where Alice presented a certificate to me.  I'm the only one who graduated.  The other 2 students are coming back next week to complete their studies.


I came back to the house and loaded my bag into the car.  Then Lili, Alphonso and I headed off to the restaurant at Hotel Casa Turire, about 10 minutes' drive from the house, for lunch.  The hotel is very upscale but it's possible to find even more expensive and luxurious hotels if you really want to spend a ton of money.  Lili and Alphonso dressed up for lunch and looked their best.  Lili had on a dress and was all made up for our lunch.  Lunch is the biggest meal of the day for them and I was happy to treat them to a fancy lunch.  They treated me so well that it was the least I could do to show my gratitude. Lili suggested we order seafood so we did.  Food was super and presented in a way you won't find in regular Costa Rican restaurants.

After lunch it was time for a fond farewell at the house then I took off with the GPS as my guide for Volcan Turrialba Lodge.


It was a beautiful day for a drive, with a bright blue almost cloudless sky. We now have a new #1 at the top of the list of "Worst Roads in Costa Rica"--the last 12 kilometers of the road to the lodge. Most of the road looked like a jigsaw puzzle of red clay and broken asphalt with all the pieces scattered. I just had to take it slow most of the way and for the last couple of kilometers over rocks I had to use the four wheel drive. I was glad to have a vehicle with a higher ground clearance than normal.  It took about an hour to creep up the road but I didn't mind because the scenery was so gorgeous.

  And when I arrived the only thing I could say was, "WOW!"  The lodge is very plain, it looks like a few farm buildings in a pasture.  But then you see the amazing volcano hovering so close that it seems you can take a short stroll, reach out and touch it.  There weren't many clouds yesterday in the afternoon so the views from the lodge were magnificent.

I checked in at the same time as a couple I passed on the road; we were the only guests last night.  I took one wing of the lodge (2 rooms plus common area, kitchen and satellite TV) and they got the other.  Everything in my room was very basic--a far cry from the ornate decor of Casa Turire.  I was expecting a small fireplace in the room due to chilly atmosphere at this elevation--I had read to bring some warm clothes. My heater turned out to be a small wood stove with plenty of wood but no matches or kindling to speak of.  I had to get help from the staff at the hotel to get the thing fired up.  Then it wasn't possible to keep the somewhat damp wood burning.  No problem, lots of blankets for the beds. This morning I'm writing on a counter in the kitchenette and have two gas burners turned on for some heat. The temperature on the car thermometer early this morning was 52 degrees F--it felt colder last night with a fresh mountain breeze.


I had dinner last night with the German couple; they spoke passable English.  I found out quite a lot about them; they didn't have much interest in me. They're not married and both are MDs (medical deities). Tina is an opthalmologist and Voelker is an anesthesiologist.  They're in Costa Rica for 3 weeks and it took them 20 hours of travel time to get from their home in Cologne to San Jose. Their indifference was ok with me--I was still glad to have the company, such as it was.  Our meals were surprisingly good.  I had chicken grilled with vegetables and of course rice and beans--red ones this time, usually it's frijoles negros.  We had a discussion about a horseback tour this morning together but it takes at least 2 to make the tour reasonably priced ($35 each).  The woman wanted to go but the guy didn't know how to ride so they decided to skip it in favor of a hike in the National Park nearby.  I'm planning on going to the park as well this morning but they may want to hike farther and faster than I do so I'll probably get a guide of my own.


Later this morning after a great breakfast...


It's not looking good for a hike this morning; all I can see from the lodge are clouds and fog--interspersed with the occasional drizzle.  Forecast is not so good, either.  That's ok if I don't get to do the hike--the beautiful day yesterday definitely made the trip worthwhile.


I'm waiting a while to see if it clears up, then no matter what happens I have to leave around 10:30 for the hour drive back to Turrialba, check in at Turrialtico Lodge, eat lunch then show up at 2:00 PM in a little town not far from the hotel for the Golden Bean Coffee Tour.