Lava Cocktails

Unbelieveably I've been a year on the road [and occasionally the sea] with Dragoman. I celebrated the anniversary in style at the Volcan Arenal in Costa Rica, the World's second most active volcano, which erupts every twenty minutes or so. Though the summit is invariably swathed in cloud, you can spot the red glow of the odd pyroclastic flow rolling out under the night sky from beneath the cloudline. The volcano has a very sticky form of lava forced to the surface by water pressure which also cools the magma sufficiently so that it rolls rather than flows. The same water is itself heated in the process, which means there are numerous thermal springs dotted around the place. After peering through the murk at the red glow, we journeyed around the mountain to a fabulous hot springs bar where you can sit in a pool of warm water sipping the cocktail of your choice and gazing up at the night sky. The whole complex with its smartly dressed waiters serving bikini clad boozers late into the night has a quite sureal feel to it, like some sort of space age fantasy bar out of Star Wars or perhaps The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. It was all a very long way from that first night in a cheap motel in Dover.

I've been rather gorging on volcanos having recently scaled the active Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. It's an incredible feeling to stand on the rim of a giant smoking hole in the earth, breathing in a sulphurous smelling air and understanding how ancient inhabitants of this land came to see these places as portals of the underworld. Despite their destructive power, these places are responsible for generating the incredible fertility of this part of the World too. Travelling through Costa Rica, a country which for once is really striving to preserve its unique ecosystems, you cannot fail to be amazed by the immense richness and diversity of the landscapes contained in such a small amount of space. The rivers and forests are literally teaming with life and the are skies filled with birds of every colour imaginable. It's a wildlife lover's fantasy country come true.