Poas Volcano – Costa Rica

Our next port of call was Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  They actually called in Puerto Caldera (Caldera Port) because of the active volcano fairly close to the port.  Costa Rica has a fair amount of volcanic activity still going on there, altho I don’t know that any of them is in a position to threaten the population.

Clear View of Poas Volcano Crater

It was a bit of a drive to reach the national park where this particular volcano was located, and then once we arrived there, it was a bit of a walk (maybe ½ mile at most) to reach the viewpoint to look into the crater.  The liquid in the caldera of the volcano is water.  This volcano spews water when it erupts – that’s different from any other volcano that I had ever heard of!

Poas Volcano – Clouds Drifting

We were told that we were actually pretty lucky to have such a clear view of the caldera, because frequently, the clouds cover the volcano. This volcano, like others and like mountains, frequently creates its own weather, and that weather generally looks like clouds!

Poas Volcano – Clouds Rolling Up from the Valley

When I looked to the left of the caldera, I could see a bank of clouds that were rolling up what I think of as the eruption path.  When the volcano erupts, generally, the water and whatever other material is in the blast, travels down the mountain following this path.  You can see how along the floor of the path, vegetation is a bit scarce.

Active Poas Volcano

This close up is proof that this really is an active volcano – check out the steam rising from the caldera!  The water that the volcano shoots forth when it erupts is drawn from a lagoon not far off to the right of the caldera, altho it was too far away to actually see. 

Enjoy!