Volcan Arenal

A must visit, Volcan Arenal is one of Costa Rica's most famous landmarks. The colossal volcano lies on the northern province of Alajuela, in a plain that exalts the power of the volcano. The volcano is most famous due to its nightly eruptions which fill the sky with fire. Many tourists from around the world flock to the La Fortuna area to watch the night concert at the volcano; after all, its the closest thing to natural fireworks.

The story of the volcano is as follows: before 1968, there was no volcano. Whats now a huge mountain of fire was known as Cerro Arenal, or Arenal Mountain. This was because it had never shown any signs of volcanic activity nor any seismic events had occured close to the area. Many towns grew around it and people even climbed to the top of the so called "mountain". On July 29th, the mountain suddenly blew up. A massive, explosive eruption threw tons of rock and ash unto the unsuspecting towns which were completely destroyed and buried. Lots of people died. Fifteen square kilometers were buried and the explosion affected over 232 square kilometers. Since that date, the volcano has been restless, with constant eruptions of both lava and fire and ash and rocks. This eruptions can be safely seen as long as people stay inside the safety perimeter.

 

Theres a really good youtube video which exemplifies the volcano very well:

 

Football in Costa Rica

Football is the main sport in Costa Rica. It's by far the most watched and practiced sport in the country. There are several leagues, being the "Primera Division" the most important. There are several teams too, each with its own strengths, weakness and fans.

Because Costa Rica is such a small country (which will explain the oddities of it in an upcoming post) the football league is fairly small, or perhaps really small. Because of this the fanbase is spread unequally with the majority being in the Deportivo Saprissa, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense or Club Sport Herediano. The two major rivals here are Deportivo Saprissa and Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

In my personal opinion and also in opinion of other, the soccer league is fairly mediocre and this reflects greatly on the national football team. This team that began the CONCACAF qualifications round with a great winning streak has just earned a 3 match loss streak against main rivals.  The Costaricans are desperately hoping that the team will manage to revitalize itself and win the next matches or Costa Rica may not qualify to the World Cup.

Happiest place in the world

Forget Disneyland. Costa Rica has been elected the happiest place in the world according to the HPI index which evaluates a country's environmental footprint, its citizens happiness, life expectancy, satisfaction with life among other criteria.

Costa Rica ranked 1st among a list that comprised 149 countries around the globe. The top 9 were all Latin American countries. Costa Rica was ranked first because of its high life expectancy (79 years) and its environmental footprint is so small it has an almost carbon-neutral footprint.

Developed countries ranked low in the survey, with United States on 114th, China 20th and India 37th among other developed countries. Sub-saharan Africa ranked the lowest, with Zimbabwe on 149th.

Moravia

Moravia is a county located in the province of San Jose, its divided in two districts: San Vicente and San Jeronimo. I lived in the district of San Vicente, in a small, quiet neighborhood called La Guaria, close to downtown Moravia.



In downtown Moravia you can find lots of things, even though its a small town. Theres the famous cathedral with its beautiful architecture you can admire; there are lots of small and varied restaurants you can eat in like La Princesa Marina, La Antojeria Mexicana, El Pollo Cervecero and many others. There is also the park of Moravia, close to the Cathedral where you can watch the "moravianos" relax. In La Guaria you can find the Club La Guaria where you can play football, tennis, squash, swim and many other sports. Close to the Club you can find the St. Joseph School. In Moravia lies the best school of Costa Rica in my opinion, which is Saint Francis College.




Moravia is a beautiful town, the Moravianos love to relax, walk to a park and enjoy the beautiful afternoons.